Petroleum
Remedy of deep cracks and fissures in skin, especially in winter. Sea-sickness. Ravenous hunger soon after eating. Eczema — thick, greenish crusts, bleeding cracks. Vertigo at the back of the head. Skin heals slowly.
Source
Prepared from purified petroleum (rock oil), potentised.
Available Potencies
Get Personalized Safety Info
Sign in and complete your health profile to see safety warnings personalized to your age, sex, medications, conditions, and allergies for this remedy.
Keynote Symptoms
Deep cracks and fissures in skin — especially fingertips, backs of hands, heels — worse in winter, cold weather. Sea-sickness with vertigo at back of head (occipital). Ravenous hunger soon after eating — must eat again to prevent nausea. Thick, greenish, crusty eczema that bleeds easily. Skin heals slowly and cracks re-open. Chilblains.
Mind & Emotional Symptoms
Irresolute, cannot make decisions. Irritable, quarrelsome. Gets lost in familiar places. Forgetful. Easily offended. Feels things are strange and unfamiliar.
General Symptoms
Winter aggravation — skin cracks in cold weather. Worse from cold, winter, dampness, riding in cars/boats/trains, cabbage, eating. Better from warm air, dry weather, lying with head high.
Physical Symptoms
Head
Vertigo at occiput — the keynote vertigo. Sea-sickness with nausea and occipital vertigo. Eczema on scalp with thick crusts.
Ears
Eczema behind ears with deep cracks. Itching. Chronic discharge.
Stomach
Ravenous hunger soon after eating — must eat frequently to prevent nausea. Sea-sickness and car-sickness with occipital vertigo and nausea. Aversion to fat food, meat, cabbage. Heartburn.
Abdomen
Diarrhea only in daytime. Noisy flatulence. Colic.
Rectum
Diarrhea — during the day only (night diarrhea rules it out). Itching of anus.
Male Genitalia
Herpes on perineum. Moisture and itching of scrotum.
Extremities
Deep cracks on fingertips — the hallmark. Hands rough, cracked, bleeding in winter. Chilblains. Feet sore, sweating offensively.
Skin
Thick, hard, greenish crusts. Eczema with deep cracks and fissures. Bleeding cracks worse in winter. Itching, burning. Skin heals very slowly. Rash behind ears. Psoriasis in winter. Chilblains.
Modalities
Better From
Warm air, dry weather, lying with head high, summer
Worse From
Cold, winter, dampness, riding in vehicles, cabbage, eating, undressing, storms
Constitutional Type
Thin, irritable individuals with winter eczema. Sea-sick travelers. Those with cracked skin in cold weather. History of getting lost.
Clinical Indications
Winter eczema, cracked fingertips, sea-sickness, car-sickness, chilblains, ravenous hunger, eczema behind ears, psoriasis (winter), deep skin fissures
Comparative Materia Medica
Graphites has eczema with honey-like oozing but less cracking. Calcarea carbonica has cracked skin but is chilly and sweaty. Hepar has sensitive skin but more suppurating. Cocculus has sea-sickness but with empty/hollow feeling.
Safety Information
Cocculus, Nux vomica, Phosphorus.
Crude petroleum is toxic — ingestion causes GI irritation, CNS depression, aspiration pneumonia. Chronic exposure causes skin irritation and cancer. Safe in all potentised forms.
Find the Right Remedy
Not sure if Petroleum is the best match? Our Remedy Finder can help you compare remedies based on your specific symptoms, modalities, and constitutional type.