Chrysarobinum
Made from chrysarobic acid — the yellow powder of Goa, once the standard psoriasis treatment and the direct ancestor of the modern drug dithranol.
The whole picture, in one breath
Think of skin thick with psoriasis: sharply defined red patches crowned with silvery-white scales, unbearably itchy, worse from warmth of the bed, spreading stubbornly — the remedy of the intractable scaled eruption. Silvery-scaled plaques, worse heat: that is Chrysarobinum.
The substance, in plain words
Chrysarobic acid is the golden powder from the araroba tree of Goa, exported to Europe as 'Goa powder' for skin disease. Chemically it is an anthracene derivative — and that chemistry became dithranol (anthralin), which remains in modern dermatology's toolkit for psoriasis.
The traditional picture Classical sources
The inner state
- Irritability of the chronic sufferer. Crossness and discouragement from years of the scaled eruption.
- Anxiety about health. Fear the disease will never heal, worse at night with the itch.
- Restlessness in bed. Sleepless tossing from the itching warmth of the coverings.
The body
- Psoriasis plaques. The keynote: well-defined red patches with silvery-white scales, elbows, knees, scalp.
- Worse warmth of bed. Itching and burning as the bed warms; the sufferer throws off covers.
- Unbearable itching. Itch beyond scratching; skin thickens and cracks between plaques.
- Barber's itch and ring-shaped lesions. The books also give it crusted ring-shaped eruptions and the beard-area infections.
- Spreading tendency. Lesions that extend despite every external treatment.
- Worse heat and night Heat and the night aggravate; cool air eases.
Modalities (worse and better factors)
| Worse from ⬇ | Better from ⬇ |
|---|---|
| warmth and warm coverings; night; scratching. | cool open air; cold applications. |
Where it acts (organ affinities)
Skin (psoriasis, crusted rings), scalp, surface generally.
Where the classical picture comes from
Goa powder was the European standard for psoriasis through the nineteenth century; the proving recorded its irritation, and the remedy preserved the portrait — thick, scaled, worse for the warmth of bed — in the classical library.
The substance in real medicine Pharmacology
What this section is: the pharmacology and toxicology of the source substance. It is not clinical evidence that a homeopathic preparation of it treats any condition. What controlled trials do and do not show is set out on the Evidence page.
Chrysarobin's chemistry is the direct ancestor of dithranol (anthralin), still used by dermatologists for psoriasis — a genuine, effective, if old-fashioned drug. Modern psoriasis care adds steroids, vitamin-D analogues and biologics; but the Goa powder's molecular family never left the field.
Look-alikes (how the classical authors told it apart)
| Remedy | Looks similar because… | Tells it apart because… |
|---|---|---|
| Arsenicum iodatum | Fiery exfoliating skin | Ars-iod is hot, restless and acrid; Chrysarobin is the dry silvery-scaled plaque. |
| Kali bromatum | Scarring skin, dullness | Kali-brom scars with acne and fog; Chrysarobin scales with plaques and itch. |
| Petroleum | Cracked skin | Petroleum cracks in winter cold; Chrysarobin scales in the warm bed. |
| Sulphur | Itchy burning skin | Sulphur is red, burning and bath-hating; Chrysarobin is dry, scaled and plaque-forming. |