Allium cepa is used predominantly for illness that affect the mucous membranes. Colds and flu are often treated with this remedy, as hay fever and allergy symptoms.
If you've ever peeled an onion, you know that it can make your eyes tear and your nose run; it can even make you want to clear your throat. This is because your body is reacting to the volatile oils in the onion, which affect the mucous membranes of your nose and throat. Because the homeopathic remedy Allium cepa is made from fresh red onions, it has the same effect on the body as an onion. Therefore, homeopaths often prescribe this remedy to treat colds marked by burning nasal discharge and extremely dry coughs. Allium cepa also provides relief to symptoms of bacterial infection, congestion and sore throat. And just as putting an onion on your ear effectively treats an earache. Allium cepa is also useful for treating this complaint.
The Allium Cepa type
The person characterized as the Allium cepa type often suffers from chronic respiratory tract illness; symptoms may grow worse in varied situations.
Are you an Allium Cepa Type?
Do you tend to have the following characteristics?
- Do you often get colds during damp weather?
- Do you get hay fever with sneezing and excessive nasal discharge?
- Do your eyes water profusely when you have a cold?
- Do your cold or hay fever symptoms worsen in a warm room and improve in the fresh air?
- When you have a cold, does your nasal discharge "burn" or irritate your nose or your face?
If you answered yes to more than 3 questions above, the content below will give you more information on the type of complaints Allium Cepa can help.
Therapeutic effect:
Like the red onion itself, the homeopathic remedy Allium cepa is an effective treatment for acute symptoms of the common cold, which may include a gripping, dry cough and a runny nose that irritates the nostrils and upper lip. It is equally effective for treating hay fever. Because Allium cepa affects the mucous lining of the respiratory tract, it also eases chronic respiratory inflammation.
Primary medicinal applications
Allium cepa is typically used to treat respiratory illness and flulike infections that quickly develop in cold and wet weather. Common symptoms include headache with tearing, fever, runny nose, sneezing fits and scratchy throat, as well as a racking, irritating cough. Allium cepa is also helpful for treating symptoms of hay fever, especially when accompanied by burning nasal discharge. Symptoms often start on the left side of your head and then gradually move to the right.
How the medicine is made
The homeopathic remedy is made from fresh red onions. The onions are either mixed with alcohol or rubbed in lactose.
Symptoms Guage
To find out if Allium Cepa is the right homeopathic remedy for you, tell your health-care professional if your symptoms change under these conditions:
Better |
Worse |
With movement |
In the afternoon and evening |
In cool weather |
In warm rooms |
Outside, in the fresh air |
With rest |
In a cold room |
In humid weather |
Used to treat coughs and colds; earaches and sore throats; hay fever and allergy symptoms; and asthma and headaches
Indications
Disposition
- No marked mental or emotional symptoms are associated with the allium cepa type
Head
- Stabbing, pounding headaches that accompany other, more common cold or hay fever symptoms
- Tearing of the eyes accompanied by a mild, non-irritating discharge
- Eyes that are sensitive to light
- Ears that twinge and ache
- Buzzing in the ears
- Head or forehead that feels hot
- Symptoms that start on the left side and gradually move to the right
Respiratory tract
- Constant postnasal drip that causes the urge to cough
- Frequent, hacking cough accompanied by hoarseness
- Constant tickling feeling in the larynx
- Nasal discharge that is watery and tends to burn
- Repetitive sneezing, especially when entering a warm room
Digestion
Skin and hair
- Severe allergic reactions, such as acne and the eruption of hives
