Berberis Vulgaris is a Homeopathic medicine and popularly known as a remedy of kidney stone. When it is studied we find that it is not an extensive medicine even though it is very useful where indicated. It has gouty and rheumatic diathesis though it doesn’t rank as a gouty medicine; its patient is very feeble, anemic, sickly looking, pallid and debilitaed so that he does not hold the symptoms of these conditions. Pains are wandering in character and don’t stick to any joint. Berberis has tearing, burning and twinging pain. Patient complains of pain in one joint and after some time will point out to another joint. The most striking feature of the pain is that it radiates in all direction. If the pain is in knee it will radiate downward and upward too. If it is in kidney region it may travel towards testes in male and in uterus and vagina in female. Patient may have bubbling sensation in left kidney region. Left sided pain is marked in Berberis as Lycopodium has distinct pain in right side of the body.
If there is a stone in kidney it will loosen it and a small stone travels through ureter and comes out. When it travels downward the patient feels radiating pain in all directions. Berberis has also the same feature. That is why it is considered a specific for renal stone. It is also helpful in gall stone colic. If a patient has a radiating pain it works like a miracle.
Some time a patient feels there is a cap on the head so that he keeps his hand on the head as if he were removing the cap. It is merely a sensation which the patient feels. Berberis has a good action on the urogenital organs. It is one of the good medicines for fistula in ano. For this ailment Homeopathy has so many medicines. Dr. Kent stated in his book that he had not operated any case of fistula in ano in twenty years. All of them were successfully treated with different medicines.