Urtica urens
Made from the dwarf nettle — the stinging weed whose own sting it can soothe, and the classical remedy of the burn, the sting and the uric-acid diathesis.
The whole picture, in one breath
Think of burns and stings and the heat of the uric-acid constitution: scalds and burns that smart and sting, nettle-rash and insect stings with the same burning wheal, joint pains of the gouty constitution, and the books' great summer-burn remedy. The burn-and-sting remedy: that is Urtica.
The substance, in plain words
The dwarf nettle is the small stinging nettle of gardens and paths, its hairs carrying genuine histamine and acetylcholine — the chemistry of its own sting. Nettle's real modern career is quiet but genuine: diuretic and anti-inflammatory research, and a traditional spring tonic of real standing.
The traditional picture Classical sources
The inner state
- Anxiety and fright after burns. The terror and restlessness that follow scalds and stings; fear of the pain.
- Irritability. Cross from the smarting and the itching.
- Despondency. Gloomy in the chronic, recurrent states.
The body
- Burns and scalds. The keynote: burns and scalds of every degree that sting and smart — the books' first burn remedy beside Cantharis.
- Nettle-rash and stings. The raised burning wheals of nettle-rash, bee and insect stings — like for like.
- Gouty and uric-acid pains. The joints of the uric-acid constitution — red, hot, stinging.
- Spleen and milk of the books. The old books add it to the enlarged-spleen chapter and the suppression of milk.
- Worse heat and touch. Warmth and the touch of clothing aggravate the sting and the rash.
- Better for cold applications. Cool water and cold compresses bring the only ease.
Modalities (worse and better factors)
| Worse from ⬇ | Better from ⬇ |
|---|---|
| heat and warm applications; touch; scratching; damp cold. | cold applications; cool open air; rest. |
Where it acts (organ affinities)
Skin (burns, stings, urticaria), joints (gouty), spleen, lactation.
Where the classical picture comes from
The nettle's own sting gave the proving its portrait — the burning wheal, the smarting scald — and the old books applied the plant to exactly what it causes: burns, stings and the stinging rash, the doctrine of like curing like in its simplest form.
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.
Nettle is genuinely one of the better-studied folk herbs: its stinging hairs carry histamine and acetylcholine — real pharmacology — and the leaf itself is researched for diuretic, anti-inflammatory and blood-sugar effects. The plant that stings is also the plant that is eaten as a spring tonic across Europe: the two facts belong to the same chemistry.
Look-alikes (how the classical authors told it apart)
| Remedy | Looks similar because… | Tells it apart because… |
|---|---|---|
| Cantharis vesicatoria | Burns and scalds | Cantharis burns and blisters with the urinary urging; Urtica stings and wheals with the gouty link. |
| Apis mellifica | Stings and swelling | Apis is rosy, puffy and thirstless; Urtica is burning, stinging and gouty. |
| Colchicum autumnale | Gouty joints | Colchicum's joint is untouchable and autumnal; Urtica's stings and is nettle-like. |
| Rhus toxicodendron | Wheals and skin | Rhus' wheals are damp-worse and better motion; Urtica's are the sting itself. |