Urtica urens – Burn Remedy
Learn About Urtica Urens – Homeopathic Burn Cream and Remedy
Urtica urens is the unsurpassed homeopathic first aid cream for burns. As a cream it works quickly to relieve the pain from the common everyday kitchen burn and the pain of sunburns. Urtica urens is best known for its effect on burns, but it has other uses as well. Here is a summary of the properties of this cream and remedy.
1) Urtica urens is the first remedy to be thought of for first degree burns. For second and third degree burns and scald burns, consider taking remedies, such as Cantharis, Arsenicum album, Causticum and others. There are 56 remedies listed in my materia medica software for burns, so it would behoove you to go to the hospital and contact a knowledgeable homeopath to get help with the treatment of serious burns and their after effects. Urtica urens can help with old burns that have never healed well.
2) Utrica urens has a lot to do with lactation. It has a reputation for helping women build up their milk supply when it is scanty, and it also helps nursing mothers who have no milk at all, a condition called agalactorrhea. Urtica urens can also help dry up the milk supply in women who are weaning. The remedy helps with inappropriate lactation, such as the presence of milk in women who have never had children, or are not currently nursing children. Swelling of the breasts is another symptom of this remedy.
3) Urtica urens has a big reputation for helping with the uric acid diathesis, or lithiasis, which is the presence of stones and calculi in the internal organs. This means it can help with the pain and inflammation of gout, and with the evacuation of kidney stones, calculi in the urine, and gall stones. In this case, I would recommend consulting your homeopath to determine the best way to take this remedy, and to make sure the remedy fits the totality of your symptoms.
4) Urtica urens, like Apis mellifica, is one of our remedies for allergic hives. The word urticaria or nettle rash actually comes from Urtica urens. The rash is an allergic reaction characterized by raised red skin welts, with a white central spot that itches intolerably. Swelling and burning of the skin can be a feature of the urticaria. The allergic reaction can be triggered by contact with an allergen, such as this plant itself, poison oak or Rhus toxicodendron exposure, or a food allergen, such as fish, shell-fish and meat. The rash can also be triggered by emotional stress and cold weather. The hives of Urtica urens are relieved by rubbing, lying down, and aggravated by warm bathing, vigorous exercise and the snow.
5) Urtica urens can help with itching or pruritis in various parts of the body. It is mentioned in the texts for itching of the scrotum that keeps the patient up all night. It is listed for intense vaginal itch.
6) Urtica urens helps reduce the pain and swelling of bee and wasp bites. Compare with Apis mellifica and Ledum palustre for insect and bee bites. Urtica urens is one of 93 remedies listed in my computer materia medica software for snake bites. Obviously seek professional help, including the help of a professional homeopath if you have been bitten by a snake.
7) Urtica urens can help with the burning pain, redness and itching from sunburns. My fourteen-year-old son got burnt at the pool this summer. His back and shoulders were bright red and very painful. I slathered the Urtica urens cream on the burnt areas and it helped make him much more comfortable. A few hours later I applied Calendula officinalis cream, which was probably a mistake, as he felt much more comfortable with just the Urtica urens cream. The next morning he did not complain about pain, and his skin began to peel.
8) Urtica urens cream can help with radiation burns. I received a phone call from a customer who told me that Urtica urens cream worked remarkably well for her radiation burns.
9) Here are a few other symptoms mentioned in various materia medicas for Urtica urens:
Chicken pox. I would recommend that you consult a homeopath or doctor for this illness. The remedies listed in the highest degree for chicken pox are Antimonium tartaricum, Antimonium crudum, Rhus toxicodendron, Thuja occidentalis, Aconitum napellus, Kali muriaticum, Mercurius vivus and Pulsatilla nigricans. There are 83 remedies listed for chicken pox. From my experience when you treat an acute illness with a homeopathic remedy, the child is often much healthier following the illness than prior to it. Luckily homeopathy has wonderful remedies in the toolchest for these exanthematous (rash producing) acute illnesses.
Urticaria alternating with rheumatism
Urticaria with pinworms
The most common types of pains that Urtica urens has are burning pains, stinging pains, and stitching pains.The primary condition that I would use this cream for is first degree burns. For non first-aid uses of the remedy, I would consider taking it in potency and consulting a professional homeopath to make sure you have selected the best remedy for the patient.
Here are some burn stories that show how helpful this cream is in a burn emergency:
I had call to use this protocol when my son, who was 20 at the time, burnt himself on a camping trip. He had a third degree burn that covered the entire area of his right forearm. He had burnt himself two days earlier, and unfortunately, did not have his mom’s homeopathic first aid kit with him, so he suffered with severe pain for about four hours when someone found some Arnica cream, which he applied to his arm. This helped take the edge off the pain.
When he came home I applied a combination of the three creams I mentioned above, Urtica urens cream, Hypericum perforatum cream to help with the injury to the nerves, and Calendula officinalis cream for general wound healing, and then wrapped the arm with a bandage.
By the time my son got home he was already out of most of his pain, but all the pain disappeared promptly after the application of the creams. I also decided to give him a dose of Cantharis 30C. This remedy is excellent for scald burns and third degree burns.
I had a similar burn to my son’s ten years earlier when I poured a cup of boiling hot water on my arm. At that time I applied the creams right away, as I was lucky enough to have them on hand, but I was still in considerable pain, so I decided to take Cantharis 30C. It took away the pain within minutes of the remedy dissolving under my tongue, and I was able to carry on my nightly activities as though no mishap had occurred. Only in the morning when I examined my arm and saw the large blisters, did I realize I had a third degree burn. Would that all hospital emergency rooms and home medicine chests had these wonderful homeopathic remedies and creams on hand to help burn victims effectively and quickly.
Directions for use: Apply locally. Rub in well. For external use only. Keep out of reach of children. Discontinue use if skin irritation results. The creams are not intended to prevent, diagnose, treat, or cure any disease.
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Here is a link to a website with information about burns and how to treat them:
Directions for use: Apply locally. Rub in well. For external use only. Keep out of reach of children. Discontinue use if skin irritation results. The creams are not intended to prevent, diagnose, treat, or cure any disease.
How Often to Use the Creams:
Some people are helped by a single application of the needed cream. Other people may need to apply the creams frequently. Here is a good guide on how to use the creams: if the affected part feels much better or significantly worse after an application of the cream, that is a sign that you need to pause from it and wait. If the part felt better do not reapply until the symptoms that were relieved start bothering you again, or you feel there has been a relapse.
If the part felt significantly worse after an application of the cream it means that the cream has found the symptom and it is working on it. With homeopathic remedies and creams, there is often an intensification of the symptoms (or aggravation) where the remedy finds the symptom and tries to push it on through. The medicinal reaction has to be stronger than the patient’s own symptoms in order to overcome the patient’s symptoms.
After an aggravation of symptoms, an amelioration, or gradual improvement of symptoms should follow. You do not need to reapply the cream until the process has gone full circle – that is the aggravation has been followed by an amelioration, and then a return of symptoms, indicating that it is time to redose or reapply the cream.
If the patient does not experience a strong aggravation or strong amelioration after applying the creams, then they can continue to apply them one, two, three or even four times a day, until they experience either the aggravation or amelioration of the symptoms, indicating that it is time to stop. If there is no response, the cream may not be homeopathic to the case. At this point it is advisable to consult a homeopath for further guidance. I hope that this will bring some clarity as to how to use the creams.