Know Your Remedies: Nitricum Acidum (Nit-ac.)

Common Names: Nitric acid; HNO3; Acidum nitricum.

General Information

Nitricum Acidum (Nit-ac.) is a remedy for excoriating and offensive excoriating discharges (e.g. stool, urine, perspiration, saliva) and fissures and cracks where mucous membranes join skin, such as the mouth, anus, eyes and nose. Pains are stitching or splinter-like and worsen with cold air, jarring or when touched. The person needing Nit-ac tends to be restless, dissatisfied, sensitive and chilly, crave fat and salt, and constantly worry about their health. They are prone to motion sickness and milk disagrees.

Mental-Emotional Symptoms

• Dissatisfied, negative and restless.
• Pessimistic and easily depressed.
• Selfish, resentful, bitter, accusing or cursing.
• Bad tempered, especially in mornings.
• Difficult social interactions – may be pleasant at start of relationships but easily irritated.
• Quarrelsome and don’t forgive. Unmoved by apologies and hold a grudge.
• Vindictive and vengeful.
• Anxious about health and fear of death. Hypochondriacal.

Gastrointestinal

• Cracks around the lips, especially the corners of the mouth.
• Anal fissures or warts.
• Haemorrhoids with sticking, splinter-like pains.

Urogenital

• Offensive urine – ‘smells like horse’s urine’.
• Genital warts or herpes.

Skin

• Herpes.
• Warts.
• Chilblains.
• Cracks on fingers and in the creases of joints.
• Fissures, cracks, ulcers – especially at the margins of mucous membranes.

Where do I find it?

Nitricum Acidum (Nit-ac.) is available from our online store as a single remedy in either pills or liquid, and as part of the following Complexes (combination remedies): Chilblains; Mouth Ulcers; Sweat (Hand or Foot); Warts.

Important

While above self-limiting or acute complaints are suitable for home treatment also contact your healthcare provider during emergency situations or if symptoms worsen or fail to improve. Chronic or persistent complaints, which may or may not be mentioned above, require a different treatment and dosage protocol so are best managed by a qualified homeopath for good results.

Dosage Instructions (suitable for babies to adults)

For the home treatment of acute and self-limiting complaints take one pill or five drops of the remedy every 1 minute to 4 hours (1 minute for intense or emergency symptoms (plus seek emergency help), 4 hours for milder ones). Once an improvement is noticed, stop dosing and repeat the remedy only if symptoms return. If there is no improvement at all by three doses, choose a different remedy or seek professional guidance.

Note: Chronic symptoms or complaints require a course of professional treatment by a qualified homeopath to manage the changes in potencies and remedies may be required.

More Information

Guidelines on which potency to use

From Past Masters

Homeopathy is a 200-year system of medicine. Early medical homeopaths recorded initial provings, remedy relationships, and their early experiences with each remedy in great detail.

These writings were then shared with others to advance homeopathic knowledge and practice.

Today, these same writings give a fascinating insight into the symptoms and clinical conditions for which each remedy was used.

The following extract, with minor editing, is one example.

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

NITRIC ACID.

Has a particular affinity for mucous outlets, where skin and membranes join; cracks; rhagades fissures.

Pricking pains as of a splinter in the parts.

Urine strong smelling; like horse urine.

Hæmorrhages from all outlets of the body; blood bright red.

Pricking ulcers; excrescences; condylomata; figwarts (sycosis).

Nervous, irritable, dark complexioned persons.

Modalities: > riding in carriage.

* * * * *

Nitric acid is one of our most effective antidotes to the effects of allopathic dosing with mercury in syphilis. For the other bad effects of the abuse of mercury other remedies are better, notably, Hepar sulphur. calc., Nitric acid have a particular affinity for the outlets of mucous surfaces, where the skin and membrane join, such as the mouth (corners), nose and anus. In the mouth we find the corners cracked, ulcerated and scabby, also aphthæ, stomatitis with ptyalism, swelling of the gums, fœtor oris, etc.

If Mercurius has already been used without avail Nitric acid follows well and will often cure.

This ulcerated, swollen and spongy condition of the gums will extend into the throat, and if it is the result of combined syphilis and mercurialization of the old school Nitric acid is the first remedy. The action of this remedy is just as positive upon the other outlet of the alimentary canal.

The anus is cracked and fissured similarly (Ratanhia), and hæmorrhoids protrude, crack, bleed and are very sore. No remedy has more decided action upon the anus, and one very characteristic symptom is, “great pain after passage of stool, even soft stool.” He walks the floor in agony of pain for an hour or two after a stool (Ratanhia). In dysentery this symptom distinguishes this remedy from Nux vomica, which is relieved after stool and Mercurius, which has tenesmus all the time, or before, during and after stool.

Another very strong characteristic of this remedy in all these affection is, “Pricking pain as of a splinter in the part.” Nitric acid has hæmorrhages from all outlets of the body, and the blood is generally bright red. It is especially so in typhoid and hæmorrhoids. Nitric acid is one of our best remedies in chronic diarrhœa. It is one of the celebrated trio viz.,: Thuja, Staphisagria. and Nitric acid for condylomata. It is one of three remedies having very offensive odor to the urine, viz.:

Benzoic acid, Nitric acid and Sepia.

Benzoic acid, urine is very dark with very intense urinous odor.

Nitric acid, dark, smelling like horse urine.

Sepia, offensive and sourish.