Dolichos Pruriens – Cow-Itch

The attenuations are prepared from the dried hairs from the pods of the plant, Mu- cuna pruriens [L.] DC., a native of the West and East Indies. N.O. Leguminosae.

The main indications are:

Jaundice with pruritus. Eczema in liver damage.

Dolichos Pruriens affects the right-hand side of the body with pronounced liver and skin symptoms, the intolerable itching being aggravated at night to extend to the whole body, hindering sleep. It is aggravated rather than ameliorated by scratching; however the skin shows no kind of exfoliation. Apart from jaundice with itching, there is usually exhaustion with abdominal distension and pale stools, and there may also be inflamed, swollen and extremely painful gums, so that food and drink can

hardly be taken into the mouth. A painful feeling occurs in the throat, below the angle of the right lower jaw, as though a vertical splinter were lodged there; the pain is worse on swallowing.

Dolichos is said to follow Rhus Tox. Functions well in herpetic eruptions. It is also useful in teething, when the child has pains in the gums which hinder sleep.

The German Monograph-Preparation Commission for the Homoeopathic Field of Therapy has, under the Preparation Monograph for Mucuna pruriens, published the following indication(s) in the German Bundesanzeiger (German Federal Gazette) for dolichos pruriens: pruritus associated with hepatic diseases.