Tellurium

Te//urium occurs in the native state and in combination with gold, silver, lead,

and antimony. It resembles Su/phur and Selenium in its chemical reactions. It was proved and

introduced into homeeopathy by Hering in 1850. The most notable feature of the proving was the

irritation of the skin, including skin of eyelids and ears, of spinal column and of some nerves.

The most characteristic form of the skin irritation of Te//. is herpes circinatus, and it has probably

cured more cases of ringworm, especially of the face and body, than any other remedy. (I cured

with Te//. an Indian officer home on furlough whose body was covered over with a ringworm-

like eruption.) The odour of the body and of the sweat is offensive and garlic-like. The prover

had to sit apart from the rest of the class during a whole session on account of this. In parts

where the skin forms openings, as the ear, the effect of Te//. is intensified. The characteristic

odour of the ear discharge is that of fish brine. The discharge is so acrid it vesicates any part of

• ▸the skin it touches.
• ▸7e//.
• ▸is one of the most important remedies in otorrhoea.
• ▸Nash cured several

cases of post-scarlatinal otorrhcea, using the 6th, higher attenuations having failed. Eyelids are

inflamed, and the vesicating property extends to the eye itself, setting up phlyctenular

conjunctivitis. Other parts of the skin affected by Te//. are the hair-roots, the breasts, the

• ▸perinzeum, and the anus.
• ▸There is itching in the rectum after stool.
• ▸Te//.
• ▸has caused expulsion of

threadworms. The offensiveness of Te//. appears in the breath and in the flatus; and it is a leading

remedy in offensive foot-sweat. In addition to the inflammation of the eyes caused by Tel/., it has

pains over the eyes. Skin and nerves are closely allied, and Te//. is a remedy in many neuralgic

conditions, notably sciatica. The right side is most affected, and these are characteristic

Conditions: the pain is < coughing, sneezing, or straining at stool; < lying on painful side. Many

• ▸of the pains and symptoms of Te//.
• ▸come and go suddenly.
• ▸The ears are suddenly stopped.
• ▸There

• ▸are sudden rushes of blood to the head.
• ▸Te//.
• ▸has great sensitiveness to touch.
• ▸This is shown in

the neuralgic hyperzesthetic state of the spine. It has also a vulnerary action as shown in a case of

• ▸Kent's (quoted A.
• ▸H.
• ▸, xxiii.
• ▸439).
• ▸A boy, 4, slid down banisters and struck his head on a tiled

floor. He became unconscious and a surgeon was summoned, who found him in that state and

with a clear, watery discharge from the ear, which the surgeon pronounced to be cerebro-spinal

fluid. This condition lasted three days, and the case had been pronounced hopeless when Kent

first saw the boy. Kent noticed that the discharge was acrid, and reddened whatever part it came

• ▸in contact with.
• ▸One dose of Te//.
• ▸was given.
• ▸In two hours the child vomited, a sign of reaction,

• ▸and in two weeks was well.
• ▸Shelton (1.
• ▸R.
• ▸, vii.
• ▸103) relates three cases: (/) Widow, 50, had pain

and soreness upper part of back for a long time. She shrank from the slightest touch on the part.

The sensitiveness was so acute that when touched the pain extended into the occiput and all over

• ▸the upper region of the back.
• ▸Tell.
• ▸6 cured in eighteen days.
• ▸(2) Miss X.
• ▸, 45, had a fall, striking a

severe blow on the sacrum. She suffered for some weeks from concussion, with one point of

great soreness in the sacral region, just above the spot where the blow was received. She was

kept in bed for some weeks and improved generally, but the painful spot remained and

• ▸sensitiveness appeared over the back, especially its upper third.
• ▸Te//.
• ▸6 cured all completely.
• ▸(3)

Miss Y., 29, who had had severe spinal meningitis ten years before, consulted Shelton for a

burning, pressing pain at base of brain. He diagnosed the condition as pachy-meningitis. The

patient grew worse, and gradually ptosis, and then right and then left hemiplegia set in. Finally

hypereesthesia of the back became so distressing that it was a question of finding any support that

did not intensity the pain. She could not bear the slightest touch, complaining that it not only hurt

her at the point of contact, but she felt it in the head and in remote parts of the body. Tell.

• ▸cleared up the case.
• ▸Skinner (H.
• ▸W.
• ▸, xviii.
• ▸535) cured two sporting dogs of ringworm with Te//.

• ▸1m F.
• ▸C.
• ▸The irritating property of Te//.
• ▸is shown again in the coryza, post-nasal catarrh, tickling

in larynx, hoarseness, and cough. There is a good deal of drowsiness with Te//.; yawning after

retching; drowsy after eating. I once gave Te//. to a child for an eruption, and cured it

incidentally of constant yawning, with which it had been troubled. The eruption improved at the

same time. Peculiar Sensations are: Fear of being touched on sensitive places. As if in air on

• ▸going to sleep.
• ▸Brain as if beaten.
• ▸As if lashes were turned in.
• ▸As if air whistled through left

Eustachian tube. As if strapped together in epigastric region. As if fluid wanted to discharge in

lobe of right lung. There is periodicity about some of the symptoms. One prover has a return of

them every Tuesday for several weeks. More symptoms appear on the left than on the right side.

The symptoms are: < By touch; touch = bleeding from ear; spine sensitive to touch. Pressure

lump in axilla to be painful. Rest <. Lying: > vertigo; on left side = throbbing over right ribs and

• ▸vice versa; on left side = pain in heart.
• ▸> Lying on back.
• ▸Lying on affected side < sciatica.
• ▸While

sitting up: vertigo; face red. Stooping, coughing, laughing, straining at stool <. Many symptoms

are < in morning, on being wakened, and at night; eating = drowsiness. Eating rice = vomiting.

Eating and drinking > sore throat.

Forgetful—Fear of being touched, in sensitive places.—Excitable, disposed to fly into

a passion.—Rough, angular disposition.—Mind depressed.

• ▸Neglectful and forgetful.
• ▸Pain in left side of head and in forehead above left eye.
• ▸Distortion and twitching of left facial muscles; when speaking left angle of mouth drawn upwards and to left.
• ▸Fear of being touched in sensitive places.
• ▸Congestion to head and nape of neck, followed by weakness and faintness in stomach.
• ▸Itching of scalp; red spots.

Vertigo; when going to sleep; morning after rising; < walking, sitting up, or turning

head; > lying perfectly quiet.—Brain feels as if beaten on slightest movement.—Heaviness and

fulness of head in morning.—Violent linear pain in small spot over |. eye; pain, short, sharp, and

defined.—Congestion to temples and forehead on waking in morning.—Sudden rush of blood to

• ▸head.
• ▸—About 10 a.
• ▸m.
• ▸pain above |.
• ▸eye, came and went suddenly.
• ▸—Sensation of numbness in

occiput and nape.—Red spots and fine blisters on occiput, neck, and behind ears, and on posterior

surface of ears.

Lids thickened, inflamed, itching. Pterygium; pustular conjunctivitis. Cataract, following ocular lesions; aids the absorption of infiltrations in iris and choroid.

Deposit of chalky-looking white mass on anterior surface of lens

(cataract).—Pterygium.—Herpes conjunctive bulbi; phlyctenules near edge of cornea; < from

crying.—Pustular conjunctivitis with eczema impetiginodes on lids and much purulent discharge

from eyes; offensive discharge from ears.—Scrofulous inflammation; < |. upper lid;

lachrymation, itching, and pressure in lid.—Eyelids: thickened, inflamed, covered with pustules;

pale red, oedematous, oozing. —Feeling as if lashes of lower lid were turned in.—Palpebral

swelling of 1. upper lid; ulceration on outer surface of lid, near outer canthus; pain < at night.

Eczema behind ear. Catarrh of middle ear, discharge acrid, smells like fish-pickle. Itching, swelling, throbbing in meatus. Deafness.

L. ear began to itch, burn, and swell; aching and throbbing pain in meatus, followed by

a copious, watery, acrid discharge.—Dull, throbbing pain in ears, day and night; thin, watery,

excoriating discharge.—Ears suddenly stopped in forenoon; < 1—Sometimes, for an instant,

sensation as if air catches itself in, or whistled through |. Eustachian tube; when snuffing or

belching air passes through.—Vesicular eruption on membrana tympani; suppurating and

perforating.—Itching and swelling, with painful throbbing in external meatus; in three or four

days discharge of watery fluid smelling like fish-pickle, which = vesicles wherever it touches;

ear bluish red, cedematous; hearing impaired.—Waked during night with dull aching deep in r.

ear, continued three days with depression of spirits —Eczema behind ears, with formation of

thick crusts; scrofulous conjunctivitis, blepharitis, and catarrh of middle ear.

Coryza, lachrymation and hoarseness; better in open air (Cepa). Obstructed; hawks salty phlegm from posterior nares.

Fluent coryza, lachrymation and hoarseness when walking in open air, with short

cough and pressure in middle of chest under sternum; > after being in open air some time.—Nose

dry, then becomes fluent with relief of headache; r. eye becomes hot with profuse

lachrymation.—Nose obstructed, must breathe through mouth.—Hawks from posterior nares dried

yellowish-red phlegm tasting salty, mornings.

Sudden flushes of redness over face—While sitting, face red.—Twitching in 1. facial

• ▸muscles, |.
• ▸corner of mouth drawn up when talking.
• ▸—Burning in lips.
• ▸—Ringworms on face;

barber's itch—Pimples on face.

Gums bleed easily and profusely.—Tongue somewhat swollen, furred white, shows

print of teeth.—Breath has odour of garlic.—Coldness of mouth and pharynx on drawing in

• ▸air.
• ▸—Copious saliva.
• ▸—Tenacious mucus runs from mouth (dog).
• ▸—Taste earthy, metallic.

Painful dryness of fauces.—In morning hawks from back of nose pieces of

yellowish-reddish phlegm tasting salt—Rough, scratching sensation in throat; < towards

evening.—Throat feels sore with a prickly, rough sensation evening and morning; throat sore on

simply swallowing; > after eating or drinking.—Pain in throat extends into ear.

Craving for apples. Empty and weak feeling. Heartburn.

Hungry at night; wants an apple in middle of night—Longs for beer.—After

meals, great drowsiness.—After eating rice obliged to vomit.—Belching with taste of food

eaten.—Heartburn with warmth in stomach as from alcohol Sensation of weakness like

faintness in stomach after local congestion of blood to head and nape, also with chest

symptoms.—Fulness in pit of stomach, must lie down after dinner.—Constrictive feeling in

stomach as if strapped together.

Fulness and oppression in hypogastrium, her dress must be loosened.—Pressing

• ▸first 1.
• ▸then r.
• ▸side as from wind.
• ▸—When lying on I.
• ▸side, throbbing under r.
• ▸ribs and vice

versd.—Pinching in abdomen.—Frequent spasmodic pains in bowels as from incarcerated wind;

mostly from 5 to 9 p.m.

Pruritus ani et perinei after every stool.

Passes very offensive wind.—Passes a large quantity of

threadworms.—Spasmodic pains with urging to stool, copious stool with feeling of flatulence in

• ▸bowels.
• ▸—Costive.
• ▸—Tetter on perinzeum, itching.
• ▸—Itching in rectum after stool.
• ▸—Itching at anus.

Painful soreness in region of kidneys, extending downward like a

weight, mostly to r. and in sacrum; < morning, making her irritable—Shooting deep in pelvis

across to l.—Menses too early in climacteric years.

Erections all night —Increased desire, followed by long-lasting

• ▸indifference.
• ▸—A drop of viscid fluid glues meatus.
• ▸—Secondary gonorrhoea.
• ▸—Herpes on scrotum

and perineum.

Hoarseness in morning with fluent coryza; a rough, pressing, tickling

sensation in larynx.—Coughing on laughing < aching in small of back.—Cough towards morning;

after a few days looser.

Pain in region of clavicle—Pain in middle of chest; going through to back; from

dorsal vertebree through to sternum; in or behind sternum.—Shooting in 1. chest, fifth

rib.—Feeling as if some fluid wanted to discharge, pressing downward in middle lobe of r.

lung.—Cutting around and in 1. nipple, through to scapula—Eruption about nipple.

Dull pain in region of heart when lying on 1. side; > lying on back.—Palpitation of

heart, with throbbing through whole body and full pulse, followed by sweat.

Pain in sacrum.--Pain from last cervical to fifth dorsal vertebra, very sensitive; worse touch (Chin s; Phosph) Sciatica; worse right side, coughing, straining, and at night, with sensitive vertebral column. Contraction of tendons in bends of knees.

With the pain above the eye, sensation along I. side of neck as if the blood

there had suddenly been retained in one of the large veins, or had streamed

• ▸backwards.
• ▸—Numbness in nape and occiput.
• ▸—When lying on |.
• ▸ear sharp pressing pain from neck

into ear.—Pressing ache in r. scapula, later in |—Painful sensitiveness of spine from last cervical

to sixth dorsal vertebrz; sensitive to pressure and touch.—Weak feeling in back.—Pain in sacrum,

passing into r. thigh; < pressing at stool, coughing, and laughing.

Offensive sweat of armpits, smelling of garlic—Lump in anterior wall of 1.

axilla, painful from pressure or motion.—Near thumb-joint.—Finger-tips feel dead on stretching

hand.—Rheumatism of r. little finger, < moving it.

Sciatica, r. side; < lying on affected side.—Sciatica with sensitiveness of

vertebral column.—Tonic muscular contraction of long standing.—Contraction of tendons of

• ▸bends of knees.
• ▸—Bruised pain in hip-joints after walking.
• ▸—Feet sweaty, mostly on toes.
• ▸—Fetid

sweat of feet.

• ▸Itching of hands and feet.
• ▸Herpetic spots; ringworm (Tuberc).
• ▸Ring-shape lesions, offensive odors from affected parts.
• ▸Barber's itch.
• ▸Stinging in skin.
• ▸Fetid exhalations (Sulph).
• ▸Offensive foot-sweat.
• ▸Eczema, back of ears and occiput.
• ▸Circular patches of eczema.

Ringworm: on face; barber's itch; whole body, < lower limbs; on single

parts —Stinging in skin.—Small red pimples, very bright red and very sharply defined, with

minute vesicles upon them, first on lower limbs, then also on upper, most on I. side; they began

first on calves, then on inside of forearms above wrist and spread from that part, caused very

severe itching day and night, < night after going to bed.—Little stinging prickings in various

parts, compelling him to rest; circular vesicular spots appeared.—Body thickly covered with

• ▸elevated rings of herpes circinatus.
• ▸—Psoriasis.
• ▸—Skin dry, hot.
• ▸—Scrofulous eczematous

eruption.—Itching < in cool air.

Y awning and belching —Drowsy after a meal.—Sleepless; restless turning from

weariness and bruised feeling —At night pains all over—On going to sleep feels as if in air, quick

drawing towards feet awakens him.

Chilly, with pains.—Skin hot and dry; sensation as if overstrained, as if bruised, as if

he had taken cold after severe exertion.—Heat: in sinciput; in face.—Sweat: on face; on spots with

increased itching of these places; often throbbing through whole body; generally warm, while

sitting in a cool breeze.

• ▸Axilla, offensive sweat of; tumour of.
• ▸Barber's itch.
• ▸Cataract.
• ▸Conjunctivitis.
• ▸Coryza.

• ▸Eczema.
• ▸Entropion.
• ▸Eyes, inflammation of.
• ▸Foot-sweat, fetid.
• ▸Gleet.
• ▸Herpes.
• ▸Hoarseness.

• ▸Levitation.
• ▸Pityriasis versicolor.
• ▸Post-nasal catarrh.
• ▸Ringworm.
• ▸Sacrum, pain in.
• ▸Sciatica.
• ▸Spinal

irritation. Worms. Yawning.

Antidoted by: Nux (epigastric oppression). Compare: Tetradymite, which contains

• ▸Tellur.
• ▸Restlessness; garlicky odour, Ars.
• ▸Coryza, Cepa.
• ▸Otitis, Puls.
• ▸, Bell.
• ▸, Ter.
• ▸Ringworm,

• ▸Bac.
• ▸, Sep.
• ▸, Nat.
• ▸m.
• ▸Ringworm in clusters Sep.
• ▸, Calc.
• ▸Threadworms, Teucr.
• ▸Pains come and go

• ▸suddenly, Bell.
• ▸, Lyc.
• ▸< Laughing, Pho.
• ▸< Straining at stool, Indm.
• ▸Cough and skin, Osm.

Compare: Radium; Selenium; Tetradymite-crystals from Georgia and North Carolina containing Bismuth, Tellurium and Sulphur--(coccygodynia, ulceration of nails; pains in hands, in small spots, ankles, heels, and tendo-Achilles); Sep; Ars; Rhus.

Sixth potency and higher. Takes long time to develop its action, which is very prolonged.

Sharp, quick pains in elbows, ankles, and other parts.—Aching all over, mostly in

limbs, <r. side and in walking.

The Metal Tellurium (TELLURIUM)

• ▸Marked skin (herpes circinatus), spinal, eye and ear symptoms.
• ▸Very sensitive back.
• ▸Pains all over body.
• ▸Offensive discharges.
• ▸Slow development of symptoms (Radium) Sacral and sciatic pains.