Collinsonia canadensis
Made from stone root — the hard, knotted American herb of old vein remedies, and the classical companion of piles and pelvic congestion.
The whole picture, in one breath
Think of a pelvis congested: hemorrhoids that burn and bleed with constipation alternating with looseness, a raw, dry sensation in the rectum, a sensation of sticks and prickling in the pelvic floor, and the odd alternation of piles and heart symptoms. Pelvic congestion, piles with heart, prickling floor: that is Collinsonia.
The substance, in plain words
Stone root is the hard-knotted American woodland herb whose knotted rhizome resembles the haemorrhoids it was used for — the old 'signature' logic. Its chemistry is genuinely astringent and venotonic; the Eclectics used it as a real remedy for piles and pelvic congestion.
The traditional picture Classical sources
The inner state
- Depression of the chronic sufferer. Low spirits, irritability, worse with the rectal and pelvic pains.
- Anxiety about health. The books pair it with the worried pile sufferer of sedentary life.
- Lassitude. General tiredness with the congested pelvis.
The body
- Hemorrhoids with alternating bowels. The keynote: piles with constipation alternating with diarrhea; the rectum alternates between bound and loose.
- Burning, bleeding piles. Piles that burn and smart and ooze, worse walking and worse sitting.
- Prickling pelvic floor. A sensation of sticks, prickling and constriction in the rectum and pelvic floor.
- Piles and heart paired. The old books' strange double: rectal congestion with palpitation and lancinating chest pains.
- Raw, dry rectum. A sensation of dryness and rawness, as of a stiff hair, in the passage.
- Worse morning and after stool. The pelvic aching is worst on waking and after evacuation.
Modalities (worse and better factors)
| Worse from ⬇ | Better from ⬇ |
|---|---|
| morning; after stool; walking; damp | lying down; open air; rest of the pelvis. |
Where it acts (organ affinities)
Rectum and pelvic veins, circulation (heart), bowel, pelvic organs.
Where the classical picture comes from
The Eclectic vein-remedy tradition gave Collinsonia its frame — knotted root for knotted veins; the proving confirmed the pelvic-congestion portrait, and the remedy entered the classical library as the piles-with-heart companion.
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.
Stone root's astringent-venotonic chemistry made it a genuine Eclectic drug of the nineteenth century, retired but real; modern haemorrhoid care runs from fibre and fluids to rubber-band ligation and surgery, with the pelvic congestion the books described now managed as varicose and pelvic-floor disease.
Look-alikes (how the classical authors told it apart)
| Remedy | Looks similar because… | Tells it apart because… |
|---|---|---|
| Aesculus hippocastanum | Piles, venous congestion | Aesculus' piles are purple, tender, backaching; Collinsonia's burn, prickle and alternate with the bowels. |
| Hamamelis virginiana | Bleeding piles, veins | Hamamelis is the passive-oozing vein remedy; Collinsonia the congested, alternating one. |
| Nux vomica | Piles with constipation | Nux is the sedentary, irritable constipation-pile; Collinsonia the congested pelvis with heart. |
| Aloe socotrina | Rectal urgency | Aloe's rectum bears down and threatens escape; Collinsonia's congests, burns and prickles. |