ABROTANUM

Abrotanum is commonly known as southernwood, lady?s love or Artemisia abrotanum. It belongs to the plant kingdom and is a member of the family Compositae. It is indigenous to Eurasia and Africa. It can be propagated easily by the division of roots or cuttings. It is a shrub with grey-green small, thin and feathery leaves. The flowers are small and yellow in color.
Due to its strong camphor-like odour, traditionally it has been used as an air freshener and as a repellant for moths and insects. In Italy, it is used as a herb in cooking. In east and north Bosnia and Herzegovina, parts of Abrotanum are used in traditional medicine for the treatment of jaundice.

1. What are the various uses of Abrotanum in homeopathy?
Fresh leaves and stems of Abrotanum are used to make homeopathic medicine. Abrotanum is commonly used in 30th potency for treatment purpose. Abrotanum 30 uses are seen in treating various illnesses like boils, chilblains, epilepsy, hemorrhoids, hectic fever, hydrocele, paralysis, myelitis, indigestion, marasmus, oozing from umbilicus, gout and rheumatism. Other prominent Abrotanum 30 benefits in homeopathy are-

It is used in the treatment of pleurisy. It is particularly indicated when a pressing sensation remains in the affected area and impedes the patient from breathing freely. With this, the patient may complaint of the cold air causing raw feeling in the respiratory tract.
It treats weakness and prostration that remains after influenza.
It helps treat boils, especially if skin becomes purplish after suppression of eruptions.
It removes hard growths in different parts of abdomen.
It helps to control vomiting of large quantities of very offensive fluid. This vomiting is commonly associated with burning, constricting and gnawing pains in the abdomen.
It helps to relax the contraction of limbs that has occurred following colic.

2. What are the characteristic indications for homeopathic prescription of Abrotanum?
Abrotanum homeopathic medicine has certain characteristic indications for its prescription.

The most guiding symptom of Abrotanum 30 is wasting, especially of the lower extremities. This is more commonly seen in the marasmus of children. There may be associated complaint of the child not capable to hold it?s head up. It is also found that such children have ravenous hunger and loose flesh despite eating well.
Many patients, asking for abrotanum complain of having a peculiar sensation as if their stomach is hanging or swimming in water.
Another characteristic indication for abrotanum is metastasis. It includes
Metastasis of rheumatism from joints to the heart or to the spine.
Receding of gout followed by the commencement of other complaints.
Rheumatism followed by checked diarrhoea.
The appearance of piles after rheumatic complaints.
Also, abrotanum has an exudative tendency. It helps treat exudations that may appear as a metastatic process or otherwise into joints and pleura of the lungs etc.
It also causes alternating conditions where one disease?s symptoms disappear and another appears in its place.
3. What are the factors that aggravate or ameliorate the sufferings of Abrotanum patients?
It is seen that the complaints for which Abrotanum is indicated, tend to increase at night and on exposure to cold air. Also, the sudden backache in the Abrotanum patient gets better from motion.

4. What kind of patients best respond to the action of Abrotanum?
It is best suited to the complaints of newborn children, especially boys. These include:-

Hydrocele
Epistaxis with a dry nose
Oozing of blood and/ or moisture from the navel of newborn
Worms especially ascarids
Marasmus with emaciation of especially the lower extremities despite a good appetite.
The other generalities often found in a patient who responds well to Abrotanum are:-

Very cross, irritable and depressed mentally who has no humanity and likes to do something cruel.
The child cannot hold up his head and gets tired from the least mental effort such as from even having a conversation. There is difficulty in thinking and comprehension.
The patient feels weak and sore all over along with the inability to move.
The patient has a good appetite with a particular desire to have bread boiled in milk.
The face is wrinkled, pale and old looking with blue rings around the eyes
Skin is flabby and appears to hang loosely
There are comedones with emaciation
Distended veins on the forehead
Conclusion
Abrotanum homeopathy medicine uses are diverse. It is commonly used in 30th potency. It is particularly indicated in conditions where metastasis or alternating conditions are found. It is found to be useful in various complaints of newborns and children such as epistaxis, hydrocele oozing from the navel etc. Emaciation especially of the lower extremities is a characteristic feature that leads to the prescription of Abrotanum in most the cases. This emaciation occurs despite normal appetite in patients. Also, Abrotanum is found to speed up the convalescence after influenza and remove bad effects remaining after pleurisy or operations on the chest.