What is Petroleum?

Petroleum is a single homeopathic remedy. Its Latin name is Oleum petrae, and it is also called rock oil or crude petroleum. Homeopaths give it most often for dry, cracked skin and for travel sickness.

The remedy is made by diluting crude rock oil again and again, with a hard shake at each step. At the common 30C strength there is, for all practical purposes, none of the oil left in the pill. Trials do not show that it works better than a dummy pill (placebo).

Long use inside a tradition is not proof that something works. This page keeps the two apart: what homeopathy says, and what studies show. Nowhere else on this page will we repeat that point.

How does Petroleum work?

No one has shown how this remedy could work in the body.

Homeopathy rests on two ideas. The first is "like cures like". Raw crude oil can burn skin and upset the stomach, so homeopaths give tiny doses of it for cracked skin and travel sickness.

The second idea is that shaking the liquid at each step leaves some "imprint" of the starting oil. There is no known way for water or a sugar pill to hold such an imprint. Lab work has not found one.

A 30C pill has been diluted one part in a hundred, thirty times over. The odds that even one molecule of crude oil is left are close to zero. So any change a person notices is most likely placebo, which is the real lift people feel from care, hope and time.

That does not mean people are making it up. Dry skin and travel sickness both come and go on their own. A remedy taken at the right moment can look like the cause of a change it did not cause.

What forms does Petroleum come in?

Small sugar pellets are the most common form. Liquid drops in water and alcohol are also sold.

Usual strengths are 6C, 12C, 30C and 200C. The number counts the dilution steps. A higher number means more dilution, not more power in the normal sense of the word.

Some creams list Petroleum for dry skin. Read the label with care. A cream may also hold real petroleum jelly, which is a different thing and does work, simply as a barrier that holds water in the skin.

Where it comes from:

Petroleum came into homeopathy in the early 1800s. Samuel Hahnemann, who founded homeopathy, gave crude rock oil to healthy helpers and wrote down what they felt. Those notes, called a proving, set the remedy's picture: dry cracked skin, itching in cold weather, and travel sickness.

Rock oil was used long before that. People skimmed it from natural seeps and rubbed it on sore joints and rough skin.

Inside homeopathy the remedy has been in steady use ever since. It is listed in the main materia medica books, which are the reference books of remedies, and most homeopathic pharmacies stock it.

What does Petroleum help with?

• Dry, cracked skin that gets worse in winter: This is the classic use in homeopathic texts. The picture is skin that splits in cold weather and heals in summer. We found no human trials of this remedy for dry or cracked skin, so the case for it rests on tradition alone.
• Deep cracks on fingertips, hands and heels: Homeopaths pick Petroleum when cracks are deep, sore and slow to close. Plain care works and is well tested: wash with mild soap, dry gently, then seal the skin with a thick ointment. No trial has tested the homeopathic remedy for this.
• Rough, itchy patches behind the ears or in skin folds: Classic texts name the skin behind the ears and the folds of the elbows and knees. If a rash weeps, smells bad or spreads fast, it may be infected and needs a doctor. There is no trial evidence for the remedy here.
• Travel sickness in a car, boat or plane: Some homeopathic guides list Petroleum for nausea (feeling sick) on the move. Tested options exist and can be bought cheaply, such as hyoscine patches or antihistamine tablets. No published trial compares homeopathic Petroleum with those or with a dummy pill.
• Itching that flares in cold, dry air: Tradition links the remedy to skin that itches more in winter and at night. This kind of itch often eases with a rich moisturiser and a cooler, shorter shower. The remedy itself has not been tested in people.

Which foods are rich in Petroleum?

Food cannot give you Petroleum, and you do not need it from food.

What are the side effects of Petroleum?

• No direct effects in most people, since a 30C pill has no oil left in it
• A short flare of skin symptoms, which homeopaths call an aggravation
• Wind, bloating or loose stools in people who cannot digest lactose (milk sugar)
• Stinging or a rash from creams, usually from another ingredient
• Effects from the alcohol in liquid drops, mainly in children
• Mouth or stomach upset from low strengths below 12C, which may hold real crude oil
• Delay in getting proper care, which is the real risk

Good to know:

Direct harm from a 30C pill is very unlikely. There is nothing in it that can act on the body.

The honest worry is different. A cracked, weeping skin problem can get infected, and bad travel sickness can leave you short of fluid. Using a remedy that does nothing, while a real problem grows, is the main way this can hurt you.

Raw crude oil is a separate matter. It is toxic to swallow and holds chemicals linked to cancer. Never swallow raw rock oil, and treat any product below 12C with the same care.

How much Petroleum should you take?

• Recommended daily: No dose has been shown to do anything in a trial, so no proven daily amount exists. Labels most often say 3 to 5 pellets of 30C, two or three times a day. Drops are usually 5 to 10 in a little water. Let pellets melt under the tongue rather than chewing them. Strengths above 30C, such as 200C, are normally left to a trained homeopath. Do not take more than the label says. More pills will not do more, and a bigger pack is still mostly sugar.
• Best time of day: Any time of day works, since there is no known active dose. Many labels suggest morning and evening. For travel sickness, guides say to take a dose before you set off.
• With or without food: Take it between meals. The usual advice is to keep food, drink, mint and strong flavours away for about 15 minutes on each side. This is a rule of homeopathic practice, not a tested need.
• Time to effect: There is no reliable answer, because no trial has measured it. Homeopathic guides talk about days for skin and minutes for travel sickness. Treat both claims as tradition, not as proof.
• How long to take it: Keep any trial short. Three to seven days is enough to see if anything changes. Stop and rethink after two weeks at most. If cracked skin or sickness has not eased by then, book a doctor or pharmacist visit. Do not keep taking it for months out of habit.