Silicea. [Sil]
Silicea is a very useful remedy in headache, but one not very often used. When a patient with a headache has her head tied up with a towel or handkerchief it will probably indicate one of two remedies. Argentum nitricum if the head be tied up tightly; here we have relief from pressure; and Silicea if the head is tied up simply to keep it warm. The headache of Silicea nervous and caused by excessive mental exertion. The face is pale at the commencement of the headache, but gets flushed as the pain becomes intense; body is chilly. It is supra-orbital and worse over the right eye, the pains coming up from the back of the head. Noise, motion and jarring aggravate. Warmth relieves. Menyanthes is similar in some respects to Silicea , but pressure rather than warmth relieves; and on going upstairs there is a sensation of a heavy weight on the vertex. The headache of Silicea like that of Ignatia and Gelsemium is relieved by copious urination. An additional indication for Silicea is an extreme sensitiveness of the scalp. Strontium carbonicum. This is most similar to Silicea, but the pains increase gradually to their greatest intensity and then decline.