Sticta pulmonaria
Remedy of stuffed-up nose with dryness and pressure at root. Constant need to blow the nose but no discharge comes. Incessant sneezing. Dry hacking cough worse at night. Bursitis and rheumatic joints.
Source
Prepared from the fresh lichen Lobaria pulmonaria (Stictaceae).
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
Dry stuffiness of nose — constant desire to blow it but nothing comes. Pressure and fullness at root of nose. Dryness of all mucous membranes. Incessant sneezing without relief. Dry, hacking, incessant cough worse at night, from inspiration. Rheumatism and bursitis — housemaid's knee, pre-patellar bursitis. Dropping of mucus posteriorly.
Mind & Emotional Symptoms
Confused, dull. Cannot concentrate. Irritable from nasal stuffiness.
General Symptoms
Dryness of mucous membranes. Worse from sudden temperature changes, night, inspiration, sitting. Better from discharge starting, open air.
Physical Symptoms
Head
Dull heavy headache with catarrh. Pressure at root of nose. Fullness.
Nose
The keynote: constant desire to blow the nose but nothing comes — complete obstruction with dryness. Pressure at root of nose (bridge). Incessant sneezing. When discharge finally starts, it is thick and crusty. Hay fever with dryness.
Throat
Dry, raw, scraping. Constant hawking. Post-nasal drip — dried secretions.
Respiratory
Dry, hacking, incessant cough — especially at night, from inspiration. Tracheitis. Cannot expectorate. Loose cough alternating with dry. Tickling behind sternum.
Extremities
Rheumatic pains in joints. Bursitis — especially housemaid's knee (pre-patellar). Spots of redness on joints. Stiffness. Soreness.
Modalities
Better From
Discharge starting, open air, expectoration
Worse From
Sudden temperature changes, night, inspiration, sitting, atmospheric pressure changes
Constitutional Type
Not strongly constitutional. Used for acute sinusitis with dryness, and bursitis/rheumatism.
Clinical Indications
Dry sinusitis, nasal stuffiness without discharge, cough (dry, nocturnal), bursitis, housemaid's knee, hay fever with dryness, tracheitis
Comparative Materia Medica
Kali bichromicum has thick, ropy nasal discharge; Sticta has dryness and inability to discharge. Sambucus has infant snuffles but with more suffocation. Nux vomica has nasal stuffiness but with more irritability and GI symptoms. Bryonia has dryness of mucous membranes.
Safety Information
Not well established.
Lungwort lichen is non-toxic. Used in folk medicine for respiratory conditions (Doctrine of Signatures). Safe in all potencies.
Find the Right Remedy
Not sure if Sticta pulmonaria is the best match? Our Remedy Finder can help you compare remedies based on your specific symptoms, modalities, and constitutional type.