---
title: "Natrum Muriaticum Materia Medica: Keynotes and Mind"
description: "Natrum muriaticum's classical keynotes are ill effects of grief, mortification or reserved displeasure; aggravation from consolation, with a wish to be alone to cry; craving for salt and aversion to bread; emaciation while living well; a hammering headache from sunrise to sunset; greasy skin; and aggravation at the seashore and from the heat of the sun."
canonical: "https://homeonetix.com/blog/natrum-muriaticum-materia-medica"
author: "HomeoNetix Editorial Board, Clinical & product team"
datePublished: "2026-10-18T18:57:04.162Z"
dateModified: "2026-10-16T22:01:00.439Z"
---

# Natrum Muriaticum: Keynotes, Mind and Clinical Picture

> Natrum muriaticum's classical keynotes are ill effects of grief, mortification or reserved displeasure; aggravation from consolation, with a wish to be alone to cry; craving for salt and aversion to bread; emaciation while living well; a hammering headache from sunrise to sunset; greasy skin; and aggravation at the seashore and from the heat of the sun.

## Key takeaways

- Boericke: psychic causes of disease, ill effects of grief, fright and anger, and consolation aggravates.
- Kent: she dwells on past unpleasant events, bids for sympathy and is angry when it is given.
- Craving for salt, aversion to bread, emaciation while living well, and better from going without regular meals.
- Headache like a thousand little hammers, from sunrise to sunset; worse at the seashore and from the sun's heat.
- Allen: Natrum muriaticum is the chronic of Ignatia; it is followed well by Sepia and Thuja.

Natrum muriaticum is indicated when the symptom picture shows the ill effects of grief or mortification held inward, a patient who is worse from consolation and wants to be alone to cry, a craving for salt, emaciation in spite of eating well, and headaches that run from sunrise to sunset. Boericke opens its mind section with "psychic causes of disease; ill effects of grief, fright, anger."

Below is the classical Materia Medica of Natrum muriaticum from Boericke, Kent and Allen, with relationships and differentials.

## What is Natrum muriaticum?

Natrum muriaticum is common salt, sodium chloride. Kent begins his lecture by answering the obvious objection: salt is so common in the diet that it has been assumed to be useless as a medicine. He describes instead a "Natr. mur. inanition, a starving for salt," in a patient who takes salt in quantity but does not assimilate it, and who grows thin with all the symptoms of the remedy.

Boericke describes great debility, worst in the morning in bed; emaciation most noticeable in the neck; dry mucous membranes; a constrictive sensation throughout the body; and oversensitiveness "to all sorts of influences."

## What are the keynotes of Natrum muriaticum?

- **Grief and mortification as causation.** Allen lists bad effects of anger caused by offence, of grief, fright, vexation, mortification or reserved displeasure.
- **Consolation aggravates.** Boericke and Allen both record it; Allen says consolation from others makes her troubles worse.
- **Craving for salt** and a great aversion to bread (Allen).
- **Emaciation while living well.** Allen: "losing flesh while living well," and the throat and neck of children emaciating rapidly.
- **Sunrise to sunset.** Headache that begins with the sun and eases as it sets (Boericke, Allen).
- **Seashore and sun.** Worse at the seashore, from sea air and from the heat of the sun (Allen).
- **Greasy skin.** The face "oily, shiny, as if greased" (Boericke, Allen).

## What is the Natrum muriaticum mind picture?

Boericke's rubrics are compact: depressed, particularly in chronic disease; consolation aggravates; irritable, gets into a passion about trifles; awkward and hasty; wants to be alone to cry; tears with laughter.

Kent fills in the inner life. She "easily takes on grief, grieves over nothing," and "unpleasant occurrences are recalled that she may grieve over them." Consolation aggravates the melancholy and tearfulness and sometimes brings on anger: "She appears to bid for sympathy and is mad when it is given." Kent also records unrequited affection as a cause, and notes the alternation of weeping and laughing, with laughter at unsuitable times.

Allen adds a marked disposition to weep, a sad weeping mood without cause, and awkwardness: the patient drops things from nervous weakness.

The practical lesson is to observe what consolation does in the room. A patient who stiffens, turns away or becomes irritable when comforted is giving you a general of the first rank.

## What are the generals, thermal state and cravings?

**Thermal state.** Natrum muriaticum is a mixed picture. Boericke records "coldness of the body, and continued chilliness very marked," yet his modalities are worse from heat and a warm room. Kent says complaints come on in a warm room and in the house, and that she wants the open air, though she is worse on getting heated. Allen lists the heat of the sun or stove among the aggravations. Record the patient's actual reaction to sun, room and weather rather than assuming a type.

**Food and thirst.** Craving for salt; aversion to bread, to anything slimy such as oysters, and to fats (Boericke). Unquenchable thirst. Sweats while eating. Boericke and Allen both note improvement from going without regular meals.

**Sleep and dreams.** Sleepless from grief. Allen describes dreams of robbers in the house, after which the patient "will not believe to the contrary until search is made."

## What are the modalities of Natrum muriaticum?

| Worse | Better |
| --- | --- |
| About 10 to 11 a.m. | Open air |
| Seashore, sea air | Cold bathing |
| Heat, sun, warm room | Going without regular meals |
| Consolation; noise; music | Lying on the right side |
| Mental exertion; talking; reading; writing; lying down | Pressure against the back; tight clothing |

When the aggravation from consolation is clear, record it as a mental general. When the emotional cause is clear, record it under [causation](https://homeonetix.com/blog/causation-ailments-from-case-taking) as well, because "ailments from grief" and "worse from consolation" are two different rubrics.

## What are the key particulars of Natrum muriaticum by region?

- **Head:** throbbing, blinding headache; "as if a thousand little hammers were knocking on the brain"; from sunrise to sunset; before the attack, numbness and tingling of the lips, tongue and nose (Boericke). Allen adds headache beginning with blindness and "zig-zag dazzling, like lightning in eyes."
- **Eyes:** letters run together; tears stream down the face when coughing.
- **Nose:** violent, fluent coryza with sneezing, the discharge "like raw white of egg," changing to stoppage.
- **Mouth:** mapped tongue; deep crack in the middle of the lower lip; "vesicles like pearls" on the lips; sensation of a hair on the tongue.
- **Rectum:** stool dry and crumbling; the anus contracted, torn and bleeding.
- **Urine:** has to wait a long time for it to pass if others are present; involuntary when walking or coughing.
- **Heart:** fluttering; "heart's pulsations shake body."
- **Skin:** greasy, especially on hairy parts; eruptions on the margin of the hairy scalp and in the bends of the joints; hangnails; warts on the palms.
- **Fever:** chill between 9 and 11 a.m. (Boericke); Allen gives the paroxysm at 10 or 11 a.m.

## What are its relationships and differentials?

**Relationships.** Boericke lists Apis, Sepia and Ignatia as complementary, and Arsenicum, Phosphorus and Spiritus nitri dulcis as antidotes. Allen calls Natrum muriaticum "the chronic of Ignatia, which is its vegetable analogue," says it is followed by Sepia and Thuja, and adds that if vertigo and headache persist after Natrum, Nux vomica will relieve. Kent agrees: where Ignatia benefits only temporarily, its chronic, Natrum muriaticum, should be given.

**Differentials.**

| Remedy | Point of difference (classical sources) |
| --- | --- |
| Ignatia | Allen: the acute grief remedy, "the remedy of great contradictions," with involuntary sighing and moods that change in an incredibly short time; Natrum muriaticum is its chronic |
| Pulsatilla | Boericke: likes sympathy; children like fuss and caresses. Natrum muriaticum is worse from consolation (see our [Pulsatilla guide](https://homeonetix.com/blog/pulsatilla-materia-medica)) |
| Sepia | Allen: particularly sensitive to cold air; indifferent even to her family and to those she loves best |
| Staphysagria | Allen: "was insulted; being too dignified to fight subdued his wrath and went home sick"; indignation, with very sensitive feelings |

### A short study case

A woman in her thirties, de-identified, has had throbbing headaches that start in the morning and ease by evening since a broken engagement two years ago. She does not cry in front of others, becomes irritable when her sister tries to comfort her, adds salt at the table without tasting the food, and feels worse after a seaside holiday. Each element is a Natrum muriaticum line in Boericke, Kent or Allen, and the causation is clear. Ignatia and Staphysagria still need to be excluded before the remedy is chosen.

## How does HomeoNetix help with Natrum muriaticum?

HomeoNetix keeps causation, the Complete Symptom and concomitants as separate parts of the case record, with four repertories and 19 classical Materia Medica titles inside it. The HomeoSamvad voice scribe can draft the case from the consultation, in Hindi, English or Hinglish, so emotional history is not lost while you listen. Read about [HomeoSamvad](https://homeonetix.com/ai-scribe-for-homeopathy).

_This article is for practitioners and students. It is not medical advice for patients._

## Frequently asked questions

### What does consolation aggravates mean in Natrum muriaticum?

It means the patient's state becomes worse when someone tries to comfort her. Boericke and Allen record that consolation aggravates, and Kent says it worsens the melancholy and tearfulness and sometimes brings on anger: she appears to bid for sympathy and is angry when it is given. It is a mental general and should be observed rather than only asked about.

### What is the relationship between Natrum muriaticum and Ignatia?

Allen calls Natrum muriaticum the chronic of Ignatia, which is its vegetable analogue. Both follow grief and disappointment. Ignatia suits the acute, changeable state with sighing and contradictions; Kent advises that where Ignatia benefits only temporarily, its chronic, Natrum muriaticum, should be given. Boericke lists Ignatia as complementary to Natrum muriaticum.

### What kind of headache does Natrum muriaticum have?

Boericke describes a throbbing, blinding headache, as if a thousand little hammers were knocking on the brain, often from sunrise to sunset, with numbness and tingling of the lips, tongue and nose before the attack. Allen adds headache beginning with blindness and zig-zag dazzling like lightning in the eyes, and headache of anaemic school-girls.

### Is Natrum muriaticum hot or chilly?

The classical texts give a mixed picture. Boericke records marked coldness and continued chilliness, yet lists heat, a warm room and the sun among the aggravations. Kent says complaints come on in a warm room and she wants the open air. Allen lists heat of the sun or stove and the seashore. Record the patient's own reactions.

### What are the antidotes and complementary remedies of Natrum muriaticum?

Boericke lists Apis, Sepia and Ignatia as complementary, and Arsenicum, Phosphorus and Spiritus nitri dulcis as antidotes. Allen calls it complementary to Apis, acting well before and after it, says it is followed by Sepia and Thuja, and notes that Nux vomica relieves persistent vertigo and headache after Natrum muriaticum.

## Sources

- [Boericke, Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica, 8th ed. (1922), Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.125811) (accessed 2026-10-17)
- [Kent, Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica (1904), Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.458552) (accessed 2026-10-17)
- [H. C. Allen, Keynotes and Characteristics (1899), Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/keynotescharacte00alle) (accessed 2026-10-17)
- [Sodium chloride, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_chloride) (accessed 2026-10-17)