Know Your Remedies: Berberis Vulgaris (Berb.)

Berberis

Common Names: Barberry.

General Information

Berberis Vulgaris (Berb.) is an important remedy for neuralgic pain or colic of any part of the body but especially the joints and muscles and the urinary system. The mucous membranes tend to be dry and saliva thick and sticky. Sharp twinging, stitching, shooting or radiating pains caused by cystitis, kidney stones and types of arthritis are rapidly relieved by this remedy. It enables the passage of kidney stones with much reduced colic.

Back

  • Low back pain or sciatica with the keynote symptoms of twinging, shooting or radiating pains.
  • Pain, stiffness and lameness of small of back so that rising from sitting is almost impossible – the person has to push themselves up with their hands.

Kidneys

  • Kidney stones with sharp pains that radiate or extend downwards.
  • Renal colic with radiating pain.
  • Bubbling or gurgling sensations in the region of the kidney.

Bladder

  • Cystitis with radiating pain before and after urination.

Limbs

  • Sudden twinges or stitching pain.
  • Wandering arthritic pain that moves from joint to joint.
  • Pain from sciatica or renal colic that radiates down the legs.
  • Arthritis or gout with sudden, sharp, radiating pain.

Where do I find it?

Berberis Vulgaris (Berb.) is available from our online store as a single remedy in either pills or liquid, and as part of the following Complex (combination remedy): Renal Stone Colic.

Home Treatment Guidelines

Acute, Self-Limiting Conditions

Conditions like colds or minor injuries, which are short-term and typically improve on their own, can be managed at home with homeopathy. However, in emergencies or if symptoms worsen, contact your healthcare provider.

Chronic Conditions

These home treatment instructions do not apply for ongoing issues, whether mentioned above or not, like persistent allergies or chronic pain. You should consult a qualified homeopath for a personalized treatment plan to achieve the best results with homeopathy for chronic conditions.

How to Take the Remedy for Acute Conditions

  • Take one pill or five drops of the remedy. The frequency depends on symptom severity. As examples:
    • For life-threatening symptoms, take every 1 minute and seek emergency help immediately.
    • For mild symptoms, take every 4 hours.
  • Stop taking the remedy once you feel better. Resume if symptoms return.
  • If no improvement after four doses, choose a different remedy or consult a professional homeopath.
  • For more details on dosing, refer to: How Often to Dose with a 30C Homeopathic remedy.
  • For information on the different potencies, read: Guidelines on which potency to use

Additional Notes From Past Masters

Homeopathy is a 200-year-old system of medicine.

Early homeopaths recorded detailed notes on how remedies worked, including initial tests, remedy relationships, and their experiences. These writings were shared to improve homeopathic practice and now offer fascinating insights into past uses of homeopathy.

Here’s an example, edited and modernised for clarity, from Leaders In Homoeopathic Therapeutics (1898) by E. B. NASH M.D.:

Leaders In Homoeopathic Therapeutics by E. B. NASH M.D.

Berberis vulgaris (Berb.)

Bruised pain, with numbness, stiffness and lameness in region of kidneys < in bed in the morning.

Soreness in the region of the kidneys; bubbling sensation, < stepping or jarring motion.

Rheumatism or pains, like gouty pains in the joints; the pains radiate from a center.

* * * * *

“Bruised pain, with stiffness and lameness in the small of the back.” “Rise from a seat with difficulty.” “Backache worse when sitting or lying, especially when lying in bed in the morning.” “Sensation of numbness, stiffness and lameness, with painful pressure in lumbar and renal regions.” These pains sometimes extend all through the hips.

Guernsey says: “A great many old troubles in the back. Sufferings in the back aggravated by fatigue.”

One might say all these symptoms are found under Rhus tox. True, but in the Berberis cases they all come from or are in connection with kidney or urinary troubles, Rhus tox. seldom so.

The pains extend often into the bladder and urethra, and the urine itself is changed. It may have a turbid, flocculent, clay-like, copious, mucous sediment, or a reddish, mealy sediment, or be blood-red, but the persistent pains in the back are the leading indications.

It is especially to be thought of in arthritic and rheumatic affections, when these back symptoms connected with urinary alterations are present.

One very characteristic symptom is a bubbling sensation in the region of the kidneys. Another is soreness in region of kidneys when jumping out of a wagon or stepping hard downstairs or from any jarring movement.

There is almost always, in the back troubles of Berberis a great deal of prostration or a sense of weakness across the back, and the face looks pale, earthy complexion, with sunken cheeks and hollow eyes, with blue circles under them.

No matter what ails the patient, if he has persistent pain as above described in the region of the kidneys do not forget Berberis.