Allium Cepa

Grown worldwide, Allium cepa, also know as the red onion has long been used in traditional medicine for its healing properties.

It has also been used in folk medicine for centuries. The characteristics are well known to anyone who has ever peeled one; it affects the mucous membranes of the nose, eyes and throat.

This common garden vegetable has been applied to the skin in poultices for acne, arthritis, and congestion and has been used internally to clear the intestines of worms.

Modern-day herbalists find the red onion useful for treating conditions as varied as earaches, hemorrhoids, and high blood pressure.

Homeopathic practitioners consider Allium cepa as a remedy for conditions that are accompanied by the same symptoms as those brought on by the exposure to red onion such as watering eyes and a burning, runny nose.

To be used in homeopathic remedies, red onions are harvested in midsummer. The bulbs are pounded to a pulp and then the pulp is mixed with water and alcohol through several stages of extreme dilution.

TARGET AILMENTS:

* Common cold - Nasal inflammation of the mucous membranes with profuse, watery, acrid discharge, leaving sores on nostrils and upper lip; may be one-sided.

* Cough- Hacking cough that gets worse with the breathing in of cold air. Coughs that cause a ripping, tearing pain in the throat and a tickle in the larynx.

* Eye complaints - Watery and inflamed eyes as from chopping onions. Eye inflammations that may have bland discharge.

* Hay fever - Major remedy for hay fever when the nose is affected more than the eyes that is worse in late summer.

PREPARATIONS:

Allium cepa is available over the counter in various potencies, in tablet or liquid form, at selected store and pharmacies.

SIDE EFFECTS:

None expected.