Hypericum – St. John’s Wort

The mother tincture is prepared from the whole fresh plant, Hypericum perforatum L., gathered in flower. It is very frequently found in meadows, pastures and in sparse woodland in Europe and Central Asia. N.O. Guttiferae.

The main indications are:

Injuries to nerves and brain. Osteoarthritis with sensitivity of the cervical spine. Strangury in cystitis. Endometritis, vaginitis, cervicitis. Sense of smell more deli- cate. Dryness of the nasal mucosa. Hypericum is “The Arnica of the Nerves” (Dr. Schlegel of Lindau).

Hypericum is especially indicated in puncture wounds and nerve irritation, not only after injury but in changes of postural balance in the spine, when nerves are trapped or pressed (in the intervertebral foramina) as a result of faulty posture, and in complaints arising from osteo-arthritis.

However, the remedy picture of Hypericum also contains emotional changes, ex- citement with ensuing relaxation, lassitude, trembling and unaccustomed thirst, as well as spasmodic complaints.

One symptom which may point to the remedy is the sensation as if the head were enlarged, (cf. Paris Quadrifolia).

The German Monograph-Preparation Commission for the Homoeopathic Field of Therapy has, under the Preparation Monograph for Hypericum perforatum, pub- lished the following indication(s) in the German Bundesanzeiger (German Federal Gazette) for hypericum: traumata suffered by the peripheral or central nervous sys- tems; emotional discord or upset; cerebral angiosclerosis; asthma.