Spigelia

A tropical pinkroot, traditionally used in homoeopathy for one-sided, stabbing headaches and nerve pain that settle over the left eye.

Spigelia anthelmia, the West Indian pinkroot or wormgrass, is a small herb of the Loganiaceae family from Central and South America and the Caribbean. It has spread to other tropical regions, India among them. As its Latin name suggests, it was once used against intestinal worms. The raw plant is poisonous; homoeopathy uses it only in specially prepared form.

Homoeopaths know it chiefly for nerve pain. It is traditionally used for violent, throbbing headaches, often on the left side, that spread to the eye, and for stabbing pain in the face. Sensitivity to touch and to movement is typical. Pains often rise and fall with the sun.

• Left-sided headache
• Pain around the eye
• Facial nerve pain
• Sensitivity to touch