What is Kreosotum?

Kreosotum is a homeopathic remedy. It is made from beechwood creosote, an oily liquid that comes from beech tar. Homeopaths give it for foul-smelling discharges, sore gums and bed-wetting in children.

It is a single-drug remedy, not a blend. The Latin name is Kreosotum. It is also sold under the name Creosote.

The remedy is made by diluting the liquid over and over, with shaking at each step. At 30C, so little is left that no source material remains. What you take is water, alcohol or a sugar pellet.

Long use in a tradition is not proof that a remedy works. Trials have not shown homeopathy to work better than a dummy pill. This page keeps the two apart: what tradition says, and what trials show.

How does Kreosotum work?

There is no known way for a 30C pill to act on your body. No source material is left in it, so there is nothing there to act.

Homeopathy rests on two ideas. One is that something which causes symptoms in a healthy person can treat those same symptoms in a sick person. The other is that shaking a dilution makes it act more strongly.

Neither idea fits what we know about chemistry or the body. When people feel better, the likely reasons are the placebo effect (feeling better because you expect to), time, and a long, kind talk with the homeopath.

What forms does Kreosotum come in?

Kreosotum comes mostly as small sugar pellets. You let them melt under your tongue.

Liquid drops in alcohol and water are also sold. A few brands make creams, but these are less common.

Strengths are written as 6C, 12C, 30C or 200C. A higher number means more dilution. Low strengths such as 1X or 3X may still hold traces of the raw tar.

Where it comes from:

Beechwood creosote was first made in the 1830s by heating beech tar. Doctors of that time used it to stop food from spoiling and to quiet coughs.

Homeopaths gave it to healthy people, wrote down the symptoms it caused, and added it to their materia medica (their book of remedy pictures) in the mid-1800s.

Since then it has been used mainly for foul discharges and for early tooth decay in young children. That gives it a firm place in one tradition only.

What does Kreosotum help with?

• Foul-smelling vaginal discharge: This is the best-known use in homeopathy. Old texts pick Kreosotum when a discharge smells bad, burns the skin and stains cloth yellow. No human trial has tested it for this, and a bad-smelling discharge often means an infection that needs a doctor.
• Itching and burning of the vulva (the outer sex organs): Homeopaths link the remedy to raw, burning itching that gets worse at night. This use comes from the old symptom lists, not from trials. There is no trial evidence that it eases itching.
• Bed-wetting in children: Tradition points to a child who wets the bed early in the night and is hard to wake. This is a traditional match only. No trial has shown that Kreosotum reduces bed-wetting.
• Painful teething and early tooth decay in children: Old homeopathic books describe teeth that darken and crumble soon after they come through. The remedy is offered for the pain and fretfulness. Decayed teeth need a dentist, and no trial supports this use.
• Bleeding, sore gums: Homeopaths use it for gums that bleed easily and smell bad. Raw creosote was once dabbed on gums by dentists, but that is not the same as the diluted remedy. No trial evidence supports it.
• Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy: Some homeopaths suggest it for sickness with a bitter taste and burning. Evidence is absent, and pregnancy is a time to be extra careful. Speak to your midwife or doctor before taking anything.

Which foods are rich in Kreosotum?

1. Smoked fish and smoked meat: wood smoke leaves behind small amounts of the same tar chemicals found in creosote
2. Foods cooked over an open wood fire: same reason, in traces

What are the side effects of Kreosotum?

• No effect at all, which is the usual result
• A short spell of worse symptoms, which homeopaths call an aggravation
• Upset stomach or wind in people who cannot digest lactose (milk sugar)
• Rash or itching from an allergy to the pellet base or the drops
• Burning mouth, stomach pain and kidney harm from raw creosote or very low dilutions such as 1X
• Harm caused by putting off treatment that does work

Good to know:

Side effects from 30C pellets are rare, because the pellets are mostly sugar. The real risk is not the pill. It is treating a serious problem, such as an infection, with something that has not been shown to work.

How much Kreosotum should you take?

• Recommended daily: There is no proven dose, because the remedy has not been shown to work. Homeopaths most often use 30C pellets. A common pattern is 3 to 5 pellets, two or three times a day, stopping as soon as you feel better. Liquid drops are usually 5 drops in a little water, taken the same number of times each day. Never take the raw liquid or a mother tincture (the undiluted starting liquid).
• Best time of day: Any time of day. Homeopaths traditionally ask you to take it away from food, drink and strong flavours, though there is no evidence this matters.
• With or without food: Taken on its own, about 15 to 30 minutes before or after food or drink. This is custom, not a proven rule.
• Time to effect: No reliable time can be given, because trials have not shown an effect beyond a dummy pill. People who report feeling better usually say so within a few days.
• How long to take it: Homeopaths usually suggest a few days at most for a sudden problem. If nothing changes in 3 to 5 days, stop and think again. Any symptom that lasts more than a week or two needs a doctor, not a longer course of pellets.