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Calcarea phosphorica – Generalities

1. Calcarea Phosphorica - The Essential Homeopathic Features
2. Calcarea phosphorica – Generalities



Musculo-skeletal system:
The musculo-skeletal system, especially the bones, but also other relSchiisslerated structures (e.g. the teeth) are a main sphere of action in Calcarea phosphorica. Some of the bones' pathological conditions have already been described in the first part of this remedy picture. As mentioned, the bones are undernourished, soft, thin and brittle. Places where bony structures meet are especially affected: sutures, symphyses, joints etc.

Effects on the skeletal system are common. In older populations Calcarea phosphorica covers many cases of arthritis, especially when the ligaments are affected and when stiffness is a prominent symptom. Many cases may resemble Rhus toxicodendron; the stiffness can be so intense that it verges on a constriction that almost defies movement. Patients suffering from such stiffness have to walk about to achieve some relief. It can be a very debilitating and uncomfortable state. Limping can appear suddenly after hearing bad news. Stiffness of the cervical region, especially at the borders of the trapezius muscles, is a strong characteristic of this remedy. This stiffness is greatly aggravated by a draft of air. These people are worse from draughts in general, but the cervical area suffers from an exaggerated sensitivity.

Calcarea phosphorica, Rhus toxicodendron, and Cimicifuga are the main remedies for stiffness and pain in the cervical region that is aggravated by draughts. In Cim. the stiffness in the cervical region can become so severe that the brain feels as if it is enclosed within a cloud. With Rhus-t the accompanying feeling is one of irritability. Their stiffness makes them irritable and restlessness. They want to move about and are unable to stop or sit quietly for even five minutes. Rhus-t. patients are also inclined to rub their necks a great deal. Calcarea phosphorica does not demonstrate such restlessness; they sit quietly, and their mind grows more and more dull. The Calcarea phosphorica aggravation usually consists of a stiff neck coupled with a dull and sluggish the mind; it is as if the circulation to the brain has been compromised. Both Rhus-t. and Calcarea phosphorica have the inclination to move the neck and crack it, and the noise that comes from such cracking is impressive.

It is interesting to observe that nowadays, for most people, there exists a vulnerability to stress in the cervical region. It seems that almost everyone experiences stiffness of the neck, especially when fatigued. Most particularly, however, this stiffness arises when an individual perceives that the extent of his responsibilities exceeds his capacity to fulfil them. It is also quite liable to arise when a person's desire to perform in accordance with the expectations of others is frustrated.

The muscles, tendons, and ligaments are lame, weak, and sore, often from straining them or due to cold weather. Interestingly, the extensors tend to be more affected than the flexors.

Glands and Swellings:
The glands and lymph nodes also suffer from malnutrition. They are often swollen and sore. The tonsils and adenoids are particularly affected; enlarged tonsils and adenoid growths are symptoms that are well verified. We also see swellings of the cervical, inguinal, or mesenteric lymph nodes. Calcarea phosphorica like Calcarea carbonica is useful in polypi of the nose, uterus and rectum.

We mentioned three causes for the development or the aggravation of a Calcarea phosphorica case: causation or aggravation due to bad nutrition, bad news, or bad weather, i.e., cold and wet. The special aggravation from melting snow is a striking sign, especially in cases of rheumatism and arthritis. Draughts of air can very easily provoke complaints, and any change of weather definitely aggravates symptoms. Whenever the patient goes without a hat, walks on the floor with bare feet or gets his feet wet, he catches a cold. He can have chills running up his back. While the occasional patient may, due to the phosphoric element, be warm-blooded, he still experiences the aggravation of his localised complaints in cold, wet weather. The aggravation from cold extends to food as well; ice-cream, frozen foods and drinks tend to cause colic or diarrhoea. Other foods and drinks that may have a similar aggravating influence are fruit and cider.

Another strong modality is that exertion, especially mental exertion, may bring on complaints. Physical strain, such as lifting, also has negative consequences (back pain, etc.).

Calcarea phosphorica is aggravated by thinking of complaints and by consolation. Dentition and puberty are critical points in the development of young Calcarea phosphorica individuals. Heat generally ameliorates, as does warm, dry weather; the same is frequently true of lying down. Some complaints are also ameliorated by washing with cold water.

Appearance: Calcarea phosphorica individuals tend to be tall and lean, even scrawny, and have an appearance different from the 'pasty' appearance of Calcarea carbonica people. Both have a flabby abdomen, which is often large, but which in Calcarea phosphorica may also be sunken. Calcarea phosphorica's complexion is less chalky-white and tending more to dirty-white or brownish than Calc.

Weakness and Fatigue:
Weakness and fatigue on all levels is a marked characteristic of Calcarea phosphorica. The weariness is worse from going upstairs. The individual wants to sit down and not get up again. There is a predisposition of the lower limbs, abdomen and sacrum to 'go to sleep' and thus the individual is unable to rise from his seat.

Weakness and languor may occur during menses or pregnancy, with leucorrhoea, with diarrhoea, in dentition, and after acute diseases. Exertion, especially mental, makes these people feel weak, but so does physical exertion, even just the act of talking. Vexation may also induce states of weakness.

On the physical plane, muscular flabbiness is characteristic of Calcarea phosphorica, and quite often flabbiness of the lower abdomen is a prominent feature. As the Calcarea phosphorica state develops, an individual who may have been muscular and energetic loses his stamina, often rather precipitously; his muscles lose their firmness and strength, and he begins to put on weight. Flabbiness begins to pervade the whole organism.

Some further general qualities of Calcarea phosphorica are: Sensations of crawling or tingling, numbness and coldness are characteristic, as the protagonist of the 'tissue remedies', Schissler, perceived; they often accompany pains and convulsions due to anaemic states. There is a tendency for the sensations to occur in small spots. Trembling, especially of the arms and hands, is also a symptom that frequently accompanies other ailments, such as uterine complaints, headaches and bellyaches. The discharges of Calcarea phosphorica persons generally tend to be albuminous; they contain albumen and look like the white of an egg. The tendency to perspire, especially around the head in sleep, as mentioned in the section on the Calcarea Child. Calcarea phosphorica may also be indicated for convulsions. Schissler gave as a special indication 'Convulsions without fever in teething children.' In children, we may see convulsive starts when they lie on their backs, which cease when they lie on their sides. In convulsions of children, however, to secure the best effect, the remedy must not be given when the child is in the throes of the convulsion. In young persons whose bodies are developing, the remedy brings on epileptic spasms after suppressed menses due to bathing. Attacks of spasms go through the body like an electric shock, so that she falls down, last about a minute and occur up to thirty times a day.

Calcarea phosphorica has a tendency to produce very strong aggravations that may last for 10-20 days, which is considerably longer than for most other remedies. It is very important to differentiate an aggravation that is due to the healing process from an aggravation that comes from an involuntary proving!


Vertigo when walking in the open air in windy weather, with drawing in the nape of neck and also with confusion of the head. Vertigo when getting up or rising from sitting, particularly in old people; they stagger when getting up from bed. Vertigo in old people has also been cured when it occurs in connection with constipation and hard, bloody stools, and which is accompanied by mental depression and headache. Vertigo and loss of memory occur during lunch; vertigo with leucorrhoea, before the menses. Generally, physical or mental exertion may provoke vertigo.


Crawling sensations run over top of head, with a freezing cold feeling, as if ice were lying on the upper part of the occiput. The head may be hot, with smarting at the roots of the hair. Heat in the head; burning on top, running down to the toes. Headaches with fullness, as if the brain were pressing against the skull, most severe on the top of the head. This symptom from Hering's proving first occurred every ten seconds, then became almost continuous. This kind of headache is aggravated by motion, on stooping, on sitting up after lying down, on rising after sitting; also by external pressure (from a hat). It is better while lying still; the patient often wants only to be left alone. Throbbing or beating headaches, through either or both sides, worse from a jar (stepping) and especially from quick motion. Headaches from mental exertion are a well-known indication of Calcarea phosphorica, especially in school children, and accompanied by diarrhoea. Headaches in children from watching TV is also an indication. They may be ameliorated by going out into the open air. Occasionally mental work may also relieve headaches, probably because it diverts the mind from thinking of the pain. In the provings, we can find the following symptom: 'Headache, in the morning, on waking, a heavy painful confusion, as if close to the bone, from within and without, worse on the vertex and aggravated by bodily exertion; it seems to disappear on mental exertion, and return on bodily exertion; relieved by washing with cold water.'

Other remarkable modalities: the urge to stool may be attended by pain in the head; gastric or uterine symptoms are often accompanied by headaches. Hering's proving produced the following strange observation: 'Great desire for tobacco-smoking; headache relieved.' Changes of weather will often aggravate or bring about a headache, which extends downward: from the forehead to the nose, or the from temples to the jaw. It may be connected with rheumatic pain and tearing in other parts, e.g. from the clavicles to the wrists.

As discussed above, there are very often problems with the bones of the skull: hydrocephalus (often with diarrhoea and vomiting), delayed closure of the fontanelles, soft, thin skull bones are pathologies which Calcarea phosphorica affects. Sometimes we see a tottering, large head in a child, the neck being too weak to hold it properly. The bone pains prefer the region of the sutures and have a drawing, tearing, rending quality. The scalp tends to be itchy and sore, which has led to the cure of impetigo or eczema of the scalp. Falling hair [alopecia areata) or the hair being of poor quality can frequently be observed.


There is a sensation in the eye as if there is something in it, which is renewed if others talk about it. This very annoying sensation sometimes seems to wander about in the eye, but is often felt in the region of the inner canthus. It may be followed by discharge of matter from the inner canthus in the morning and a swelling and redness of the upper part of the canthus. The eye hurts as if it had been beaten; gentle pressure eliminates the pain. Hot feeling in the eyes, especially in the lids, along with sweating of the brows and lids. A cool feeling toward the front of or behind the eyes has also been mentioned. The (left) eye is inflamed, the cornea hazy and traversed by red vessels, with photophobia. The capillary vessels may be visible in streaks from the canthi to the cornea. Opacities of the cornea after an abscess. Photophobia. Light tends to hurt the eyes, particularly artificial light (including candle light). A dimness of vision has been observed in the provings, with an increase of myopia; the field of vision seems composed of small, round, greyish spots. Letters tend to change into little black spots, or patients report that they see something like a little bird flying from left to right. Phenomena like shimmering, glittering, fiery circles before the eyes have also been reported. Calcarea phosphorica has been useful in spasmodic disorders of the eyelids, where Magnesia phosphorica has failed. A valuable hint, mentioned by Margery Blackie: 'They often have long lashes and rather dark blue eyes.' Of course, this is only a hint and never a sufficient basis for prescription!


Cold feeling or coldness of the ears, followed by throbbing, heat and a loss of hearing; or: Burning itching of outer ears when in a warm room, after riding in the open air (which was not cold), with redness, but not warm to the touch, continuing all day when indoors. Rheumatic tearing in the ears when the weather changes to cold. Soreness and aching in and around the ears and also in the bones around them; also in the region of parotid glands. Severe burning pain in a small spot above the ear, with the spot being exceedingly sensitive to touch. Earache from right to left, following a drawing over the os pubis from right to left. Excoriating otorrhoea. Hearing loss, amounting almost to deafness, from hypertrophy of the tonsils or from adenoid growths.


Tip of nose icy cold. Sensation as if something were in the nose (like a crumb, when eating), which cannot be removed. There is a tendency to violent sneezing and coryza, often with soreness of the nostrils and inside the nose. The discharge may be so abundant that 'three handkerchiefs are hardly enough for a day' (from Schreter's proving). The same prover also observed that in a cool room (after having ridden in the open air) he had fluent coryza, while outdoors, in the hot air, his nose was blocked. Coryza that develops into sinusitis. Large pedunculated nasal polypi that bleed easily. A small ulcer forms at the septum and is very painful, especially on blowing the nose.


The face tends to be pale and waxy, of a sallow colour, and sometimes with a yellowish hue. It may be full of pimples and pustules, as in acne, and is most often found in girls. Coppery discolouration of the face or dark blotches on the face have also been cured by Calcarea phosphorica. The face may be hot, and the rest of the body is cold; we also see cold sweat on the face while the body is cold. Facial ache that may be neuralgic or rheumatic in origin and which worsens at night. The pain in the face affects in particular the upper maxilla and has a tendency to spread or wander in a distinct pattern: it goes from right to left, or it begins in other parts of the body and extends to the face, or else it starts in the face and extends to other parts. Some modalities of the facial ache: aggravated by wet weather, by draughts, by physical or mental exertion, by noise, ameliorated while lying down. Swollen upper lip which is painful, hard, and burns.


Bitter taste in the mouth: in the morning, with headache; at the beginning of menses; bread and even water taste bitter. The bad taste in the morning upon waking may also be insipid and offensive. In conjunction with this taste, a white coating of the tongue can be observed. In the provings, we find: 'In the morning, tongue coated whitish, with furrows, as if split, and an insipid, sweetish taste after the ice-cream eaten the day before.' The tongue may be swollen, numb and stiff, with pimples on it. The tip of the tongue burns, as if sore or burnt; sometimes little burning blisters are found there. Sore spots on the mucous membrane of the cheeks developed in two pro vers. Children tend to put their fingers into their mouths. The teeth and the teething periods are often a source of ailments. Slow and difficult teething, with a variety of complaints (cough, diarrhoea, vomiting, cold tremors, convulsions without fever, emaciation, and so on). Caries are very common and often comes very early in children. The teeth crumble and decay rapidly. The teeth are sensitive and cannot bear the touch and pressure of chewing. Fresh air, especially a cold draft is also intolerable and aggravates toothache, as well as warm and cold things.


Calcarea phosphorica has a marked action upon the tonsils and adenoids. There is a chronic enlargement of the tonsils, with an aversion to opening the mouth. If it is opened all the same, e.g. for yawning, there is a sore pain felt in the tonsils. The remedy is also indicated in adenoid growths which can entirely obstruct the nasopharynx. Every cold tends to settle in the throat. It is sore, feels raw on swallowing, and there is much mucus in it. Has to hawk frequently, and can only talk clearly after hawking. Hawking is also necessary in the evening to get the slime out, it even continues after falling asleep. The sore throat is often caused by exposure to cold air. Two descriptions from the provings: 'Yesterday, soreness of the throat; today, tonsils, uvula, and pharynx red and swollen, with pain increased by swallowing' (Cate). And: 'Sore throat in the morning, on waking, worse in the right side, low down in fauces, more towards the back; worse when swallowing; disappears after rising and at breakfast; warm drink causes no pain' (Hering). A strange sensation of emptiness or faintness in the pharynx has been noted. Swallowing may also cause a lot of other pains: in the tongue, in the chest, and in the pit of stomach.


The most striking desires have been reported in the chapter on Children, and include the desires for fat bacon, ham, 'ham rind', salted or smoked meat, sausage, potatoes, farinaceous foods, and indigestible things. In addition, there are cravings for cheese, fish and strongly seasoned foods, especially pepper. Eggs might be an object of desire or aversion, the aversion to soft-boiled eggs being sometimes quite strong (the opposite of Calcarea carbonica). Milk (mother's milk or cows' milk) may also be craved or strongly rejected. In spite of emaciation, there may be quite ravenous hunger. Infants want to nurse all the time, but vomit easily. A special time for a sudden feeling of great hunger is in the afternoon at 4 p.m. Before and during the menses, the appetite may be completely lost. Hering also observed the following interesting symptom: 'No appetite from noon to noon; but thinking about it, she wants to eat. ' The stomach is easily disordered. Drinking cold water, eating ice-cream or fruit will cause colic and vomiting or diarrhoea. Clarke relates that a special sort of dyspepsia has been cured by Calcarea phosphorica: 'Pain better for a short time by raising wind, when fasting the pain goes to the spine, feeling as if one ought to raise wind and cannot. Dyspepsia with indescribable distress in region of stomach, only temporarily better by eating.' Violent pain in the stomach, with great debility, headache and diarrhoea; pain is excited by introducing the least morsel of food into the stomach. Nausea comes on after drinking coffee, with incipient heartburn and an exceedingly unpleasant sensation, together with a confusion in the head, headache and great ill-humour. Heartburn after lunch, lasting for some time, has several times been observed in the provings. Nausea when moving, rising from the pit of stomach; better at rest and is followed by a headache and lassitude. Generally, there is much flatulence in the stomach and abdomen, which provokes loud eructation. This may relieve the flatulent colic temporarily, but not the belching which continues to leave a burning sensation in the epigastrium. An inclination to vomit is often excited by mucus in the throat. An indescribable uneasy feeling in the region of the stomach is described by provers. It comes in the form of an empty, sinking feeling or a sensation of the stomach being distended by food. The stomach-ache is often burning, with water-brash or as a consequence of eructation.


Flatulence and flatulent colic are frequent from eating or from certain foods (see Stomach), and the pain, which often has a cutting, sharp quality, tends to localise around the navel. 'Pain in the middle of the abdomen, while and after eating, lasting half an hour; this pain abated after a copious emission of foetid flatus' (from Cate's proving). The winds do not always bring such relief, sometimes the pain will be only slightly better or even not at all; they are often difficult to expel. Sharp pains around the navel may also be accompanied by a feeling of soreness. The flatulence can be really violent, with severe pain and also with confusion of the head, increasing to a dull headache that is worse on stooping; a thin evacuation may follow, after which the pain ceases. Motion in the belly as if something were alive. There are also burning pains: all over the abdomen, around navel, in the epigastrium, and rising up into the chest and throat. There is an empty sinking sensation around the navel, or in the whole abdomen. The liver region is also a locality of some ailments: In the right hypochondrium, throbbing that is ameliorated by belching or passing wind. There is a sticking sensation in the region of the liver during a long inspiration, as if from flatus and also from sudden motion. Pain in the liver with soreness may be caused by becoming chilled and will be aggravated after eating and by motion; the patient wants to keep quiet. Pain in the hypochondria from sitting for too long. Aching soreness, cutting, drawing pains in the left groin, then later in the right, A very unpleasant formication over the whole abdomen, which lasts for a considerable time, has been reported; also a kind of quivering of the (outer) abdominal wall. Oozing of serous-bloody fluid from the navel of infants. Abdominal hernias, in anaemic patients.


Itching of the rectum and anus is characteristic, and is present primarily in the evening. An example from Schreter's proving: 'Itching, tickling, prickling in the rectum, with a desire to draw it in very much, without having had a stool all day, evening, in bed.' There are also cutting pains and stitches in the rectum, or a sore feeling in the anus, which may be felt in the evening, especially when walking, or when getting up in the morning. Piles became much worse during the provings. They protruded and were very painful, the pains were characterised as being smarting, cutting, digging, and itching; also sore, aching and throbbing; with a discharge of blood, especially after stool, or oozing out of a yellow fluid. Kent describes that the pain may be so intense as to keep the patient in bed for weeks; aggravated by standing, walking, from touch; ameliorated by heat; and brought on by every cold change of weather. Small furuncle near the anus to the right, with much pain; cannot sit; has to stand or to lie on the left side; discharges blood or pus, and leaves a painless fistula (observed in two provers). Fistula in ano, alternating with chest symptoms, e.g. a cough with soreness and dryness in the throat and dull aching in the chest in persons who have pain in all the joints from any change of weather. Flatus is passed in abundance and is often foetid. A tendency towards intestinal worms in anaemic or sickly patients might be cured by Calcarea phosphorica. Violent diarrhoea comes on from eating juicy fruits or ice-cream, or from drinking cider or cold water. Vexation may also provoke diarrhoea. Diarrhoeic evacuations with much wind are frequent, during first dentition or in connection with headaches in school children. There are loose stools which contain many small white points and appear as flakes. Green and loose stools in children which are sometimes slimy, or watery and very hot, or white and mushy. Loose stools are often very offensive. Diarrhoea alternating with skin eruptions. Copious soft stool in the mornings; renewed urgency directly on wiping, after which a little more is evacuated. Constipation is also found, especially in old people: costive, hard stool with blood, associated with mental depression, vertigo and headache. After evening meal pressure in the rectum, with stool; the first hard, the last thin.

Urinary Organs

The bladder is weak and irritable. There is a frequent and urgent desire to urinate. Must frequently discharge small quantities of bright and pale urine. This is by accompanied by much pain and discomfort. Exposure to cold and wet will cause or aggravate such states. Frequent, copious discharge of urine, with weakness and fatigue. Calcarea phosphorica may be indicated in bed-wetting with general debility; also in glycosuria from diabetes mellitus where the lungs are implicated. In men, a relaxation and weakness of the genital organs after urinating has been observed. Dark urine, warmer than usual and of a penetrating odour; dark-coloured, hot, and smelling like strong tea. One prover had to retain the urine for a couple of hours, having no opportunity to pass water. He experienced an increasing pain in the bladder and in the prostate gland. When he finally urinated, the water passed only in a feeble stream, taking a considerable time. After all had passed, there was considerable soreness of the bladder, followed again by frequent micturition. Painful sensation in the neck of the bladder, such as when the stream of urine is suddenly stopped. In women, a drawing upwards occurs in the bladder while urinating, and after urinating a pressing and cutting sensation in the bladder has been noted. A pressing pain in the bladder, on one side (right or left); also cutting in the bladder before urinating. Cuttings and stitches in the urethra have frequently been noted in the provings. This can occur while urinating, but occurs especially when not urinating. A striking symptom in a male prover (Schreter) that occurred several times is: 'The urethra expands much on urinating, it swells and becomes hard, with burning; towards evening.' The indication 'chronic induration of urethra' and Hering's symptom 'Erection painful, with burning in urethra, and a tension in penis, in evening' have been derived from this proving symptom. The same prover experienced an agglutination of the meatus, with the consequence that a quantity of urine spurted out after urinating. In the region of the kidneys, pain when lifting, digging, blowing the nose, which is frequently so violent as to make the person cry out loud.

Male Genitalia

The sexual drive is often increased, but the desire to perform sex may also be diminished due to the weakness of the Calcarea phosphorica organism. Desire for coitus may be especially strong in the morning, 'together with very unusual orgasm', as Hering's proving relates. Coitus results in a general feeling of well being, together with a good appetite for breakfast and a stronger desire for work than before. On the other hand, weakness in the feet after coitus is reported, similar to Calcarea carbonica. At 1 a.m., has a strong seminal emission with a voluptuous dream of having coitus with his wife. Strong erections while riding in a carriage for some time, but without voluptuous feeling. After emission of urine or faeces, the genitals are relaxed and weak. Calcarea phosphorica has, as Kent says, cured many cases of chronic gonorrhoea when the discharge is gleety and there are sharp pains in the urethra and prostatic gland. White discharge from the urethra in anaemic subjects. Shooting through the perineum into the penis. Shooting in the root of the penis and bladder. Swelling of the testicles. Scrotum sore, and oozing of a fluid; moist, sweaty; itching, producing pimples.

Female Genitalia

Sexual desire is often increased, so insatiable that it causes suffering to the patient, especially before the menses. Erection of the clitoris with sexual desire also occurs after urination. A proving symptom is a 'voluptuous feeling as if all female parts were filling up with blood; she feels pulse in all the parts, with increased sexual desire.' The menses have often been observed to come too early in girls, with profuse, bright red blood; in women, they tend to start too late (sometimes for weeks), with dark blood. We also see cases where the flow is first bright red, then dark. A dark flow is especially seen in rheumatic patients. Dysmenorrhoea can often be helped with this remedy, especially in young girls, and this is the main reason why Kent says that 'the woman has no better friend than Calcarea phosphoric.' Excessive, labour-like pains often accompany the menses, and they frequently set in before the flow starts. Violent cramping in the uterus and groin several hours before the flow starts, relieved after the flow has been fully established' (Kent). The pain is so extreme that it makes her cry out, and she is so severely affected that she has to stay in bed. A painful bearing down of the uterus, as if it would protrude, is also a common symptom before and during the menses. The painful menses can have their origin in having taken a cold at the first menstrual period, and then the dysmenorrhoea continues during all her menstrual life, unless the remedy is used. Other symptoms related to the menses: Headache three to seven days before menses; griping and rumbling in the bowel; stitching pains in the left side of the head; discharge, and sleepiness during the day. Calcarea phosphorica has been used with success in cases of Premenstrual Syndrome, with extreme irritability, puffy eyelids, bloated abdomen, sore breasts, heavy feeling of the uterus, low back pain, sharp pain in the rectum and a host of other symptoms. During menses: vertigo and throbbing in the forehead, blood rushes to head, throbbing headache, pressure over the os pubis, want of appetite, belly-ache and diarrhoea, shooting backache, fatigue of the lower limbs, over-fatigued, feels stiff all over on going upstairs, burning in the vagina and uterus. Leucorrhoea like the white of eggs, day and night, worse in morning after rising, of a sweetish odour; increases with stool, and is white and of a bad odour. Discharge for two weeks after menses, or from one term to another. During pregnancy, fatigue in all limbs; mammae painful: pinching, shooting, burning, sore to touch; nipples aching, sore. Menstrual flow during lactation. The breast milk is watery and thin, or it has a salty taste so that the child refuses to nurse. There is a tendency uterine displacement, which is often combined with rheumatic pains. Weakness and distress in the uterine region with an inclination to prolapsus, worse during the passage of stool, urine, or menstrual blood. Pressing, drawing and sore feeling as if the menses will appear, soreness, aching, pressure in the uterus and vagina, flushes of heat in the loins, fatigued from going upstairs with pain from right groin into left hip. Throbbing, stinging, tickling, sore aching or pressing in the genitals, drawing upward into the symphysis and downward in the thighs. Pressure upward, throbbing and similar sensations over mons veneris. Aching in the uterus in the morning; uterine pains in cold, wet weather. The cervix and os uteri are swollen, red and painful. Burning in the vagina, with pain on both sides of the bladder and uterus; burning like fire up into the chest. Aching in the vagina after nosebleed. Pains from the abdomen, especially the navel, draw towards the vagina.


Hoarseness of the voice is frequent, especially in the morning and on walking in the open air; must clear throat before he can talk or sing. Catarrhal disorders of the air passages. Breathing difficult, with constriction of the chest; better when lying down, worse again when rising in the morning, with great pain in the chest when breathing. Suffocative attacks upon the slightest exertion, or upon climbing stairs; in children when lifted from the cradle. Respiration is more difficult, frequent, and short. The prover is frequently obliged to take a deep sighing breath, which leads to the well-known key-note of involuntary sighing. Deep breathing may, though, induce or increase pains: sharp pain in the left chest and to the left of the left mammae, followed by a dull pain; sharp pain in the region of the heart; sticking in the region of the liver.


Dry, hacking cough in thin, pale, sickly people, which is worse in cold, damp weather. Dry cough with hoarseness and soreness, and dryness in the throat. Hacking cough and fluent coryza with a chill. Cough with yellow expectoration, more in the morning; with fever, dryness and thirst; during difficult dentition, also with rattling of phlegm in the chest which is difficult to expectorate. Cough in the sunny half of the day, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Chronic cough of consumptives, who suffer with cold extremities. Whooping cough of teething children, and in obstinate cases, with emaciation.

Chest and Heart

A sharp pain in the left chest in the region of the heart, sometimes of a cutting or stitching nature, has been observed by several provers. It is most felt on deep inspiration and sometimes so severe as to cut off the breath. One prover experienced this symptom most in the morning before rising, and another throughout the day. At times this pain may alternate with a similar pain in the right chest. Burning sensation in the chest, from below up into the throat; sometimes downward. A sharp pain as though some sharp instrument was pushing out the lower end of the sternum. Tearing, pressing, shooting in the sternum. Dull aching in the chest, which is sore to touch. Pain in the chest on swallowing. Pain where the cartilage and the ribs meet. A sore pain of and over the clavicles, which may extend down the arm to the wrist. Draughts of cold air cause chest pains. Ulcer over sternum or clavicle. Hard tumour, like a walnut, in the left male breast. Sweaty, emaciated chest; profuse sweat and cold extremities in phthisis. Palpitation with anxiety, followed by a trembling weakness, particularly of the calves.

Neck and Back

One of the most sensitive areas in Calcarea phosphorica and one of the first to be affected is the cervical region. The neck tends to be weak and thin, so that head is inclined to bob about. From the slightest draft of air, violent, rheumatic-drawing pains and stiffness in the nape of the neck with a kind of confusion of the head. The stiffness is often accompanied by a desire to 'crack' the neck which, however, gives only momentary relief. Cramp-like pain in the nape of the neck, first on one side, then on the other. Pain in the cervical region extending to the larynx, which is very painful to touch. While sitting, feels beating of the pulse in the nape of the neck and the left chest. Pains and aches in and near, between and mostly below the shoulder-blades, which throb and jerk. Pain as if from a bruise on each side of the dorsal and lumbar spine, during the latter part of the night and in the morning, which disappears after exercise. Violent pain in the small of the back, when making the least bodily effort; sometimes obliging him to scream; also from a jar (blowing the nose, etc.), especially in the kidney region. Sharp pain in the region of the lumbar vertebrae and at the top of the sacrum, followed by soreness. Numbness of the sacrum and lower limbs. In sacro-iliac symphysis, there is soreness as if separated. Sore, pressive, tearing and shooting pain in the os coccygis; particularly from touch or pressure. Drawing in the back and limbs, with gaping, stretching, bending backwards; aggravated in the evening and in the morning. Backache when there is a loss of muscular power in young, growing girls; with deviation of the spine; curvature of the dorsal spine to the left. Backache with uterine pains; backache as if the menses will appear. Sensation as if an electric shock went along the spine.


Rheumatic pains in all the limbs from cold and wet weather, particularly after getting wet in rain or when the snow melts; usually worse from motion. They tend to fly about all parts of the rump and limbs. The joints are most affected; pain in all the joints, most on the left side. Gouty fingers and toes become painful in cold weather. Aching and extreme fatigue of all the limbs. Stiffness after resting, also in the morning. Aching in the bones, like growing pains. Soreness about the sheaths of tendons, on extending as well as on flexing. The rheumatic pains and paralytic symptoms tend to affect the extensors more than the flexors. Feeling of lameness of the flexors; sudden aching of the extensors of all the limbs. Rheumatic pain in the upper arm near the shoulder joint; cannot lift the arm. Rheumatic pains in the shoulder and arm, also with swelling of the diseased part and febrile heat. All bones of the arms ache, especially the thumbs. Paralysis of the whole left arm was observed in Bute's proving. Hard bluish lumps under the arm, oozing and scabbing, after a suppressed itch. Dull pains in the arms, first the left, then the right; from the shoulder to the fingers, from the clavicle to the wrist; worse from a change of weather. The condyles of the elbows tend to be swollen. Shooting sensation through elbows, usually first left, then right. Pain that feels like the bones of the forearms are breaking. Calcarea phosphorica is one of the main remedies for carpal tunnel syndrome. It may affect both hands, which is rare for that syndrome. The hands become weak and drop things. Pain in the wrist, with lameness as if bruised; cramp-like pains when moving or using it; numbness spreading upward; burning pain. In thumbs, all joints as if luxated or sprained. Pain in the fingers of the right hand when writing, in the evening; writers' cramp. Spasmodic motion of the thumbs. Ulcerative pains in the roots of the finger nails, especially the middle finger. Finger tips sore. The lower limbs are the most to suffer, with tearing, shooting, rheumatic pains etc. Kent states that the reason is probably that the lower limbs are always cold to the knees and that in this remedy the cold parts are always the parts that suffer. Heaviness, fatigue and stiffness also refer to the lower limbs to a greater extent than the upper, especially during the menses or during pregnancy. Numbness, 'going to sleep', and tingling of several parts, especially the buttocks. This feeling extends upward to the sacrum or down to the soles of the feet. It can come on from sitting, after rising from a seat, or from riding in a car. It can be accompanied by a peculiar restlessness of the legs. Schreter's proving provoked the following symptom: 'Muscles of the nates [buttocks] fall asleep, with restlessness in lower legs, has to move them all the time, change position, with an anxious feeling, he wants to jump out of the carriage; if he turns to the right side, the nervus ischiadicus aches as if pressed upon, and he has to sit straight (on riding in a car for some time, at night).' In the buttocks a lameness as if beaten; after a storm all kinds of pain with soreness, most from right to left, but alternating, mostly on the right side. There are also stinging, burning, itching sensations on small spots in the skin of the buttocks. Oozing pimples develop that form scurfs and continue to itch after scratching. Calcarea phosphorica may be useful in hip-joint disease, coxarthrosis. Aching and soreness of the thighs as if beaten, with aching in the sacral bones. Sharp pain in the tendons on the inside of the thighs, more when walking. Tensive drawing in the hollow of the knee when standing up and stretching the leg, as if the tendons were too short; better from continued walking. Pain in the knees: as if sprained, sore, boring; worse when walking or stretching. Chronic swelling of the knees; hygroma patellae. The pain in bones is most felt in the tibiae. Bone pains in the left lower leg, as if it were breaking or beaten. Cramp in the calves, drawing, rending, shooting pain; cramp on a small spot inside the calves when walking. Contraction around the left calf as if it is tied over there. Ankle joints as if dislocated; they tend to be weak and easily injured. Ulcers at the ankle; fistular openings. Hering's proving gives 'old gouty pain in big toe, with inclination to crack the joints, which, however, he did not do.' Pains in the big toe, like a cramp, or aching in the region of the root of the nail, first the right toe, then the left.


Very tired all day; irresistible drowsiness, especially in the morning, constant gaping and stretching, also with sweat in the face; gaping with tears in the eyes and confusion of the head. Sleepiness before the menses. Cannot get awake in the early morning. One symptom from the proving: 'Wakes early in the morning, with erections without voluptuous feeling, then falls in slumber, in which he hears everything, but cannot get fully awake and dreams of journeys with many obstacles.' At night, the sleep is often disturbed. Cannot fall asleep, has to turn from one side to the other, his body itches, does not sleep before 2 a.m. Very vivid dreams: of journeys, of meeting old friends, of events of the day, of robbers or an army of cats, of dangers (though without fear), of fire (though without many flames). Frightful dreams cause him to wake with a start. Children cry out in sleep.


Calcarea phosphorica patients are generally chilly; easily chilled and often have ailments from becoming cold or wet. Frequent creeping shivering; coldness, tingling, and numbness with pains. Chills run up or down the back; but there might also be heat in the head that runs down to the toes. The lower part of the body is nearly always cold, but the face may be hot. Chill in the morning after dressing; shaking chills on going outside. Copious night sweats; partial sweats (head and neck) waken him. Profuse sweat during phthisis. Cold sweats, with cold body. Bad news and emotions such as sadness, may provoke outbreaks of sweat.


The colour of the skin tends to be dirty-white or darker (brown), sometimes also yellowish. Dry skin, with dry, crusty affections; eczema with anaemia. In ulceration Calcarea phosphorica may be helpful: exulceration of old scars, e.g. after an amputation; ulcers that develop from furuncles; ulceration from long-continued external applications (e.g. from a mustard poultice); fistular ulcers at the ankle joints. Skin eruptions often appear on injured parts. Acne is common in adolescents, especially young girls. Itching and burning over the whole skin. From Schreter's proving: 'After a cold river-bath, red as a lobster over whole body, with biting and prickling as from nettles.'


Anaemia. Ankles, weak. Back, weakness of. Bones, disorders of. Brain¬fag. Bright's disease. Cholera infantum. Chorea. Consumption. Cretinism. Debility. Dentition. Diabetes. Dyspepsia. Emissions. Enuresis. Epilepsy. Erotomania. Face, boils on. Fistula. Fracture. Gonorrhoea. Headaches. Hernia. Hydrocele. Hygroma. Joints, disorders of. Leucorrhoea. Lumbago. Non-specific urethritis. Nymphomania. Phosphaturia. Rheumatism. Rickets. Masturbation. Spermatorrhoea. Spina bifida. Stiff-neck. Strabismus. Testicles, swollen. Throat, sore. Tobacco habit. Tonsils, enlarged. Uterus, prolapsus of; polypus of. Yawning.


Compare: Calcarea hypophosporosa
Complementary: Ruta; Hepar.

1. Calcarea Phosphorica - The Essential Homeopathic Features
2. Calcarea phosphorica – Generalities