This month I’m going to cover Bryonia and Rhus tox—two remedies from Evie and the Secret of Small Things that I think compare and contrast well. Both of these remedies have distinct keynotes related to movement/motion that help distinguish them from other remedies. Unsurprisingly, they are both big remedies to consider when injuries to the musculoskeletal system occur, but it’s fascinating to see how their motion-related keynotes are present across a wide variety of conditions.
Bryonia alba
My Memory Work Music summarizes Bryonia’s symptom picture “When rest feels better, and motion feels worse, excruciating headaches, excessive thirst, dry cough with stitching pain in the chest, or an irritated mind, Bryonia is best!” A major keynote to this remedy is worse from movement: that’s why the memory work music is a little ‘slow-motion’ sounding.
(You can watch a quick and adorable symptom picture reel I made for Bryonia here🤗)
If Bryonia were a person, she’d say, “Please… don’t make me move.” Every cough, every step, every tiny motion feels like too much. She just wants quiet, stillness, and maybe a glass of water—sipped slowly.
This is the remedy for those moments when even the slightest, tiniest movement makes everything worse—aches, fevers, coughs, and crankiness included. Unsurprisingly, it’s a great first aid remedy for a broken bone. Do you want to move that arm? I don’t think so!
When my son hurt his wrist playing basketball, any tiny movement was excruciating so we immediately gave him Bryonia. I started with Bryonia 200C but it would only manage the pain for a short time, so I had to move him up to a whopping 1M potency. When I had to use a potency that strong, that’s when I knew that his wrist was probably broken and we needed to go to the doctor for a cast!
While getting the cast put on, the doctor told us there was “no way” my son could heal without pain meds, but I put the remedy in his water bottle as well as some Arnica 30c and he sipped it as needed. He never needed any pain meds either before or after the bone was in a cast. Nothing over-the-counter. No opioids. Nothing conventional. I know of no other modality that can so quickly and safely remove pain like homeopathic medicine without any side effects or contra indications. Pain management is truly a place where it shines.
But Bryonia’s aversion to movement is not only seen in musculoskeletal injuries! It is a prominent keynote across body systems. For example, if you have a dry, painful cough and are holding your chest while you cough to keep it from moving, then you likely need Bryonia. Similarly, if you have the flu with a high fever and body aches and any movement makes the aching worse, that would be a strong indicator of Bryonia.
Bryonia is also a top remedy for headaches. A Bryonia headache typically starts as a dull ache and slowly increases in pain until you don’t want to move your head at all. It begins over the left eye and then extends to the occiput. It is often accompanied by sneezing and you’ll notice that the less your nose drips, the worse your headache will get. And you will be very thirsty. You might have a dry mouth/ throat and you will want to drink, drink, drink!
Chris shared a great example of a Bryonia headache with me:
Last night I had the most horrific headache. Normally going to bed for a nap or for the night makes them go away. Sadly nope. In the middle of the night, I woke to go through my homeopathic repertory to figure it out because sleep wasn’t happening. I know headaches are one of the hardest to find the right remedy. It took me years to nail my husband’s migraine remedy.
Symptoms:
Extreme pain at the occiput ie base of the skull.
Not wanting to move my head – the rest of my body was restless.
Thirsty – didn’t realize this was a symptom til I was reading the suggested remedies.
Result:
Turns out I had a Bryonia alba headache. Took it (between 2 and 4am) and fell asleep. My stress tracker on my watch showed I went from extreme stress to low to no stress. Woot. Took another when I woke when the husband woke for work. Passed back out for another 2 hours to no pain and the knowledge my body finally got some energy.
Rhus toxicodendron
Rhus tox is one of the more common remedies because it is a polycrest—meaning it has a wide sphere of action in almost all of the systems in the body. When thinking about polycrests, just as polycrests are so commonly used—due to their ability to treat a wide range of conditions—their source material is also very commonly found in the environment. This is certainly true in the case of Rhus tox. Rhus tox is the homeopathic version of poison ivy and poison ivy is commonly found all over the world.
When it comes to musculoskeletal ailments, Rhus tox patients feel stiff, tight, or caught. Parts can feel torn or like the ligaments or muscles are too short. Due to this there is a constant desire to “stretch it.” And while the first movement is very uncomfortable, continued movement actually improves the condition (up to a point.) This is often referred to as the “squeaky gate” keynote. Just as a squeaky gate feels stuck and stiff when you first try to open it, swinging it repetitively improves the ease of movement.
The Rhus tox symptom picture also includes restlessness. In fact, Rhus tox is one of the three remedies in Nash’s Trio of Restless. The restlessness is due to aching pain and soreness. These individuals can’t get comfortable so they keep moving and the continued movement tossing side to side actually helps bring relief.
As its source material hints, Rhus tox is a great remedy to consider if you have a skin rash. It is most often useful for poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac eruptions. The lesions begin as tiny vesicles that itch intensely, break open when scratched, and produce yellow, watery discharge. They then dry, crust over yellow, and crack. These people cannot get comfortable in bed or anywhere. There is often aching joint pain and stiffness that develops with the rash. The discomfort is relieved by running scalding hot water over the eruptions, continued motion, and scratching.
My Memory Work Music confirms these symptoms and more: Think of Rhus tox, a polycrest, when itchy skin or joint pain puts you to the test. For fluid-filled blisters, or an itchy rash, be sure to have this in your remedy stash! For symptoms which improve with movement and heat, but are worse from cold, damp weather, please remember Rhus tox!
And as a final note, one of the more “peculiar, queer, rare, or strange (PQRS)” keynotes of Rhus tox is that you will often see a triangular red tip on the tongue. A part of me didn’t really believe this was a real symptom until I actually saw it myself! It made remedy selection a breeze!
The “squeaky gate” keynote helped Inger to know when her husband needed Rhus tox:
Homeopathy is just the BEST! Tuesday, my husband, age 70, fell and wrenched his knee pretty bad. It happened about half an hour before I got home. I gave him a dose of Arnica first, to handle any shock, etc. Then I gave him some Ruta a few times a day until last night. He actually observed that it was starting to feel better with motion, so I switched to Rhus tox. Just him paying attention to what it’s feeling like is a miracle. The swelling has gone down considerably. His attitude has improved tremendously since it first happened. I’ll be interested to see how he’s doing when I get home!
As always, the skill of observation is crucial with remedy selection. Getting familiar with remedy keynotes will help you narrow down your search and get to the correct remedy quicker—it will also help you to know when changes in the symptom picture indicate a new remedy.
Here are the links to my Rhus tox and Bryonia Pinterest boards to help drum up some inspiration for your study!
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