Homeopathic Ant Remedy Relieves Rheumatic Arthritis Gout and Itching

1. Dear Hubbers ~ This long and detailed article is best read while listening to some fun music. You will learn a lot about ants and the special properties of their protective secretions and how to apply this knowledge.
2. Ants are amazing insects that live in communities and do everything that humans do. Care for their saveyoung, work together, and even go to war.
3. Skim through the article then go back and read what interests you.
4. If you have specific questions please comment below.

As we learn more about our world, from the tiniest insect to the furthest planet’s gravitational pull, we find that everything has a meaning, purpose and even a part in healing our ills.

Based upon observation, people throughout time have discovered particular properties of plants, minerals and animals. When we see how these substances and beings interact in their environment and with each other we can learn how they can impact us.

A well selected homeopathic remedy by a professional who knows when the person’s “totality of symptoms” match the energy of the substance is utilizing a true homeopathic approach. It is the recognition of the ‘strange, rare, and peculiar’ symptoms of the case that support the selection of the substance for cure. The information presented in this hubpage is derived from journals, articles and books.

There are numerous homeopathic remedies that address each illness, disease or disorder. Success comes with knowing how to manage the appropriate remedy in the appropriate dose and regularity.

Since ants have been in the news lately, it should not surprise us that there are modern day explorers who are discovering new species, just as they discover new stars and new microscopic organisms. With the media coverage of this tiny insect community comes interest and, for me, delving into my homeopathic studies.

I have learned that the best results occur when both Chronic Arthritis exists in the same individual as an Acute Flare-up of Gout. At these times the homeopathic remedy from ants will relieve discomfort. In addition, when both Rheumatic Pains and Itchy Skin exist then we may turn to the Ant remedy called Formica Rufa.

A number of ants contain and use Formic acid [discovered in 1671] as a protective device that causes predators to stay clear due to the caustic itchy eruptions that occur from contact. Formic acid is also found in stinging nettles and bees. We are all familiar with the burning and irritation when we come in contact with those substances.

Ants provide relief to three main system stresses when used homeopathically.

1. Gouty inflammation with the sensations of ants crawling on skin.
2. Chronic arthritis.
3. Rash or red itchy skin eruptions.

• A Seattle post intelligencer article said more than 250,000 rheumatism sufferers had been successfully treated by using ant remedies.

• The mother tincture preparation of live insect has been given in 1-5 drop dosages and also in potency 6X
• A derivative of Ant, Formic acid taken in a 6x or 12X every six days has been historically recorded as beneficial.
• A number of homeopaths have taken Formic acid as a dietary supplement.
• Use self observation and judgment to relieve pains and prevent reoccurrence.

Ants come from the animal kingdom, in the phylum arthropoda in the class of insect order Hymenoptera and the Family Formicarieae. The subfamily is formicinae and the homeopathic remedy of ant is the genus Formica species rufa.

Found mostly in pine forests they are also called Southern Wood Ant or Horse Ant. They have large mandibles and like many other higher ant species can administer formic acid from their abdomens as a defence mechanism. Formic acid was first extracted in 1671 by the English naturalist John Ray by distilling a large number of crushed southern wood ants.

Formica rufa ants have been used in pest managment to eat aphids, since that is a large part of their diet. However, they also aggressively remove other ant populations to protect their territory. Fierce battles can often be spotted during the springtime. And these ants can also establish nests using the mechanism of temporary social parasitism, when the queens start new colonies by sneaking into host nests and replacing the resident queens.

Homeopaths potentize [dilute and succuss] toxic substances in order to utilize them as healing agents. Formic acid (or formate) has been found to be more toxic than other fatty acids, due to its enzyme-inhibiting activity, although no cumulative toxic effects are known. (Bleyer, 1933).

Invasive ant species introduced into new environments from other countries can pose risks to public health and to native ecosystems. For example, a new sharp stinging species of Needle Ants have spread throughout the Carolinas and range from Georgia to New York.

The homeopath William Boericke, M.D. has written extensively about the effects of red ant in the Materia Medica in relation to joints, rheumatism, gout, chronic nephritis [kidney inflammation], the tendency to develop nasal polyps, red skin with urticaria [hives], profuse perspiration which does not relieve, and even mental and emotional disturbances.

Contemporary scientists have also found crushed ants works well in arthritic conditions. Formic rufa is also a great remedy for itching and crawling sensations upon the skin. Red fire ant, made from Crushed Live Ants, can be purchased from homeopathic pharmacies as Formica rufa or Myrmexine.

Documented Historical Cases and Observations Mention these Disease Disorders Treated by Formica Rufa

• Abdominal Gas
• Acute angry outbursts of gouty poisons
• Allergic Reactions
• Ankylosing Spondylitis [Bechterew's Disease
• Apoplexy – stroke caused by brain hemorrhage Brain feels too heavy and large; Sensation as if a bubble burst in forehead
• Bruises

• Carcinoma
• Chorea - abnormal involuntary movement disorder
• Chronic Arthritis
• Chronic nephritis
• Corneal ulcers
• Cough worse at night
• Diarrhea - Drawing pain AROUND NAVEL before stool
• Diarrhea - Pain in bowels before stool, with shuddering chilliness
• Constriction in the anus.
• Dislocations
• Dropsy or edema
• Dupuytren's contraction
• Ear - Parts around ear feel swollen
• Eczema
• Emotions – feeling helpless due to sudden onset of disease
• Facial paralysis
• Fever and Perspiration
• Foot-sweat
• Gas cannot be passed
• In the morning, difficult passages of small quantities of flatus
• Gout
• Growths
• Hair falling out
• Hair Loss
• Headache - with cracking in left ear
• Joint stiffness
• Joints: enlargement of the joints of the fingers
• Kidney disorder
• Limbs: Muscles feel strained and torn from their attachment
• Limbs: WEAKNESS OF LOWER EXTREMITIES
• Lungs: pleurisy pains
• Lupus
• Mind: Forgetful in the evening
• Nasal Polyps
• Nausea, with headache, and vomiting of a yellowish bitter mucus
• Neuralgia
• Nodes
• Nose: Coryza and STOPPED-UP feeling in nose
• Over lifting
• Paralysis
• Paraplegia
• Psoriasis
• Rash - RED, ITCHING AND BURNING.
• Nettle-rash.
• Nodes around joints
• Reproductive: Seminal emissions weak
• Respiration: with aching in forehead and constrictive pain in chest
• Rheumatic Eye Inflammation
• Rheumatic iritis
• Rheumatism stiff and contracted joints
• Skin: Shingles
• Wandering arthritic pains and eruptions that look like ant bites
• Sore Throat: Hoarseness, with dry, sore throat
• Spine
• Spleen
• Stomach: Constant pressure at the cardiac end of the stomach, with burning pain
• Tinnitus - Ringing and buzzing.
• Cracking in left ear with headache
• Tremors
• Tuberculosis
• Urinary trouble with rheumatism and abundant urine at night
• Urination at night
• Urination: with much urging; bloody, albuminous urine with urates
• Varicose Veins
• Vertigo
• Weak Vision

Modalities That are Used as Guiding Symptoms

• Better from applying pressure
• Better from Combing hair
• Better from rubbing
• Better from warmth
• Relief after midnight
• Sudden onset of symptoms
• Sweat does not relieve fever
• Worse before snowstorm
• Worse from cold and cold washing
• Worse from dampness
• Worse from motion
• Worse on right side of body

Formic Acid: Formic acid has been given intravenously to address symptoms such as in chronic myalgia – muscle pain and soreness, as in fibromyalgia, gout and rheumatism, which appear suddenly. Pains usually worse on right side, motion and better from pressure and failing vision. Increases muscular strength and resistance to fatigue. Helps one feel stronger and better able to walk. Distinct diuretic effect with elimination of urea. Tremors. Tuberculosis, chronic nephritis and carcinoma, lupus, etc.

Dr. J. H. Clarke [1909] administered it for varicose veins, polyps, nasal catarrh and also for muscle pain in head, neck, chest and shoulders that appeared before a snowstorm as a dilution with distilled water taken by tablespoon once or twice daily.

PLANTS CONTAINING FORMIC ACID: rhus toxicondron, dulcamara, urtica urens, juniper and wood alcohol. When drinks are made of these plants and there is convertion into formic acid, effects of death or blindness may occur.

Dr. Sylwestrowicz of the Hering Research Laboratory of Hahnemann college, Philadelphia had given formic acid for many illnesses, especially arthritis where deformity had not already set in and saw improvement in ligament and joint flexibility. He gave in low potency 12X and 30X, intravenously every 2-4 weeks and watched for the body’s response – often called an aggravation.

There are recorded stories where upon giving a homeopathic remedy caused the cessation of progressive arthritis, but only infrequently reversal of deformity.

The Effectiveness of Homeopathic Formica rufa in Combination with Autologous Blood on Ankylosing Spondylitis (Bechterew's Disease) has been recorded.

Treating Gout: Not only has Homeopathy been effective treating acute attacks of gout by reducing frequency and intensity, but with repeated use as a constitutional therapy over time can improve the person’s total health when correctly suited to the individual based upon homeopathic principles.

Other remedies used in conjunction with formica rufa include: Bryonia, colchicum, ledum pal, formica rufa, rhus tox, calcarea phos, benzoic acid and urtica urens.

Kidney Detox Drainage Remedy: Formica rufa and/or formica acid is used to stimulate kidney function, remove toxins, and improve metabolism.

Other Kidney detox remedies include:

• Apis Mellifica: Scanty urine, burning and soreness when urination.
• Berberis Vulgaris: Pain in the kidney region, burning pain when urination.
• Chimaphila Umbellata: Urinary disorders. Prostate enlargement.
• Cuprum Metallicum: Scanty urine.
• Equisetum Hyemale: Pain in the kidney region, specially right. Constant desire to urinate.
• Sabal Serrulata: Difficult urination, burning in urethra. Prostate enlargement.
• Sarsaparrilla: Tenesmus of bladder. Pain after urination.
• Solidago: Pain in kidneys extended forward to abdomen and bladder. Urine with sediment.

Ants as possible indicators of radioactive fallout. Reference Written in French with Registration

Insect Bite Reactions: Contact with ants may induce cutaneous or systemic reactions, ranging from annoying to life threatening. Diagnosis depends on maintaining vigilant and becoming familiar with the insect fauna of the patient's environment and area of travel.

Pets may be treated with homeopathic Formic rufa for Itching

• First get pet examined by vet to rule out serious illness like mange.
• Check for fleas and ticks.
• Check for open sores or if itching spreads to other parts of the body.
• Try soothing oatmeal baths
• Try herbal tea soaks: yellow dock, aloe, calendula or green tea.
• Try a 1-3 day fast for temporary relief.
• Supplements: Vitamin E, Vitamin C, and flax seed oil.

Other Homeopathic Itch remedies include:

• Apis Mellifica
• Arsenicum Album
• Ledum Palustre
• Mezereum
• Rhus Toxicodendron
• Silicea
• Urtica Urens

Dr. Clarke experimented upon himself by taking formica acid daily based upon his observation of tropical plants, animals and insects. He relates that all insect and fruit eating animals, such as bears are known, at certain season, to eat large quantities of red ants, which they hunt for on decayed branches of trees, and in effect, alter their tissues, which make their flesh practically worthless for eating purposes.And we all know that bears  love honey and that bees also contain formic acid! Wow!

He observed that when taken for long periods it had the effect of thinning the blood of the tropical animals, and also lowered the temperature of the body.

He personally took much citric acid for his childhood illness and found it relieved him of suffering. As a side note, many today take vinegar on a regular basis for health reasons. Natural vinegars also contain small amounts of tartaric and citric acids.

Eat Your Fruits: Clarke noted that Formic acid in its crude state is an irritant poison. He reported that people who took daily fruits, honey and lime juice will be reasonably certain of getting the required amount of formic acid for good health. He found 2 grams daily was too much for regular use and 1 gram in the form of honey, raw sugar cane juice would suffice and said it had a pleasant, "fruity" sort of taste. Sometimes he added a little citric acid and sugar to it to improve the effect.

Commercial Production: We know today that Formic acid that is naturally present in ants can be found in many fruits such as apples, strawberries and raspberries, plus honey and nettles and is commercially produced from sulphuric acid, sodium hydroxide and carbon monoxide.

Protection Against Insect Bites: Clarke believed those living in tropical areas eating foods with formic acid protected against malaria, as mosquitoes would be reluctant to bite from the smell. He also thought is was protection against cancers.

Formic Acid is a Preservative: And as Clarke explained that wild animals feast upon foods in order to use the protective qualities of formic acid, today we use it as a preservative against many micro-organisms. However, due to its smell, use is limited.

Formic acid Flavorings :Formic acid is used as strawberry, apple, apricot, banana, cherry, peach, plum, nut and walnut flavorings in the manufacture of foods and beverages and as a colorless synthetic flavoring agent, with a plum-like odor, particularly for sweets, bakery products, and ice cream, ices, candy, baked goods, and chewing gum. Formic acid occurs naturally in apples.

Side effects : It is metabolized by the liver and excreted. High concentrations are diuretic. No side effect at the acceptable concentrations specified. Locally allergic reactions may occur at high concentrations (such as ant bites and contact with nettles)

Indications in Tuberculosis: In the Homeopathic World of April, 1902, Dr. Dudgeon gave an account of the work of Dr. Edward Krull, of Güstrow, who was led to think of Formic acid as a remedy from its constant occurrence in the internal organs and soft parts of the body. He found it constantly present in the sweat of healthy persons, but very much diminished in or entirely absent from the sweat of persons affected with tuberculosis. For two years he experimented in giving injections of the homeopathic solution with great success, depending upon the stage, for persons ill with tuberculosis, chronic nephritis, lupus, wasting disease and malignant tumors.

"The general effects which were observed in all the cases treated by Krull's method were : Immediate increase of nutrition, the appetite improved, the weight increased ; all this without any material change in the diet. In all the patients during the first months, sometimes every two or three days, sometimes at an interval of weeks, there occurred slight transient attacks of pain in the abdomen, on the right and left of the umbilicus, sometimes accompanied by urging to stool. If several copious fecal evacuations occurred, this had no bad effect on the patient, they seemed to have a critical character. After the injection the menses came on earlier and were more copious ; all diseased organs and parts showed greater activity."

Dudgeon concluded, "Tuberculosis, chronic nephritis and carcinoma are not diseases in which we can claim a great amount of success. . . . So where other remedies fail or cannot be discovered we may take Solomon's advice and –“Go to the ant!”

Dr. L. B. Couch wrote in the Homeopathic World, Sept., 1906 about the nature of acute or chronic rheumatism :

• is due to self-generated systematic poison
• is not bacterial
• is chemical
• is an acid and a suboxidant product
• is not uric acid
• uric acid is a product, not the cause of rheumatic conditions
• is produced by starchy indigestion alone
• is produced by fermentation
• is produced by carbonic acid gas generated in the bowels and is due to drinking at meals and washing the food into the stomach without proper mastication and mixing with the proper ferments designed to digest such foods

Dr. Couch studied Formic acid in the treatment of rheumatic disorders after hearing of a farmer who was cured after being stung by bees. Well known today as Apitherapy - Bee Venom Therapy (BVT) is the therapeutic application of honeybee venom, through live bee stings, to bring relief and healing for various spinal, neural, joint, or musculo-skeletal ailments.

• Bee Well Therapy
• Apiary Therapy
• Honey Bee Balm

It is so amazing how all this information comes together. He recommended eating honey and now we see bee sting therapy and its relation to formic acid.

Instructions for the injection method: Based upon Dr. Couch’s method in imitating natural bee stings he found the less he gave the better results, which reiterates the homeopathic principle of “less is more – the minimum dose”:

• Always cleanse the parts thoroughly before injecting formic acid solution.
• Never use a stronger solution than 3 per cent. ; a 2 1/2 per cent. is better.
• Never use it without using 5 to 8 drops of a 1 per cent solution of a local anesthetic, as a preliminary.
• Always choose exterior or outer parts for exhibiting the remedy and inject it just beneath the skin.
• Never use more than 8 drops in any place of either cocaine solution or formic acid solution.
• If larger doses of formic acid are used, painful lumps are formed which are slow of absorption and painful ; whereas if smaller doses are used no destruction of tissue results.

Dr. Couch "makes the injections not less than 2 inches apart and he has never used more than thirty injections at a time(!), and it is far better to use only twelve and repeat the following day in another place. Injections may be given every day or every other day, till all the pain has ceased."

Formic Acid in the Garden: There have been notes indicating that formic acid enhanced flower growth, just as we see ants naturally crawling on our dahlias and other bulb plants.

Homeopathic Reference

Acupuncture: For problems with the gall bladder meridian, some acupuncturists combine formica rufa when treating Meridians

Meridian AM-8 GALL BLADDER: Regulatesthe energy flow in the gallbladder. You can see the theoretical relationship to disorders due to energetic disturbances on the gallbladder meridian such as: Eczema of the 4th and 5th toes, hip and knee joint disease, low back pain with sciatic radiating down the gallbladder meridian, inguinal eczema impotence, chronic appendicitis, constipation, liver and gallbladder disease, dysbiosis, cardiac disorders, cervical syndrome, sinusitis, migraine, trigeminal neuralgia, depression and tinnitis. On the basis of its energetic effects. Meridian No. 8 is useful as an adjuvant in the treatment of gallbladder disease, such as cholecystitis and dyskinesia of the bile ducts, ect.

One herbal Formula includes: Belladonna 8x,Calcarea sulphuricum 8x, Formica rufa 12x, aapartes, 20% alcohol in distilled water.

• Acupuncture and Herbal Reference
• Dr. Wember Reference

More Uses for AMYL FORMATE -- FORMIC ACID

• Pharmaceutical industry: Caffeine, Analgin, Aminopyrine, Vitamin B1, etc.
• Pesticide industry: Triazolone, Disinfest, etc.
• Chemical industry: Methane amide, DMF, Age resister, etc.
• Leather industry: Tanning, etc.
• Textile industry: Natural Rubber.
• Rubber industry: Coagulation, etc.
• Steel industry: Acid cleaning of steel production, etc.
• Paper industry: Pulp manufacturing, etc.
• Food industry: Disinfectant, etc.
• Poultry industry: Silage, etc.

Saving Bees and People from varroa mites with Formic Acid: When bees become resistant to standard control, fluvalinate/Apistan, a gel containing formic acid has been helpful. In field tests, the formic acid gel killed up to 84 percent of varroa mites and 100 percent of tracheal mites, another bee pest. USDA Reference

Scientific Article: Effect of applying formic acid, heterolactic bacteria or homolactic and heterolactic bacteria on the fermentation of bi-crops of peas and wheat (Reference)

This work aimed to compare the effectiveness of bacterial inoculants or a chemical additive for preserving whole-crop silages made from wheat, two pea varieties (cv Magnus or Setchey) or intercrops of wheat and both pea varieties.

ASPARTAME is made of phenylalanine (50% by weight) and aspartic acid (39%), both ordinary amino acids, bound loosely together by methanol (wood alcohol, 11%). The readily released methanol from aspartame is within hours turned by the liver into formaldehyde and then formic acid, both potent, cumulative toxins. Aspartame Research

Formic Acid Fuel Cell in a miniature air breathing device: Small fuel cells are considered likely replacements for batteries in portable power applications. Science Direct Reference

Extraction of Soil Organic Matter With Anhydrous Formic Acid: Formic acid, being a polar compound, has proved a good solvent for polysaccharides and in the anhydrous condition it exhibits neither oxidizing nor hydrolytic properties yielding organic material represented from 27 to 39% of the total organic matter for the soils and 80% for compost. Journal Reference

CHEMISTRY:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Organic chemical: broad class of substances containing carbon and its derivatives; many of these chemicals will frequently contain hydrogen with or without oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, and other elements.

Debby Bruck, CHOM is a student of Kabbalah and Homeopath. She teaches qigong, healing movement, guided imagery, and meditation. Debby believes that homeopathy is the wave of the future that provides hope and healing to those who have tried every other approach. Visit her blog or follow Debby on Twitter or become a member of Homeopathy World Community and check out the remedy kits under the Marketplace.

Contact Debby: If you have any further questions she is always happy to talk with you.