Sphatika

TRADITIONAL VIEW, WITH SAFETY LIMITS

Hindi name: Phitkari

What the texts say Sphatika does

• Stambhana — astringent, checks discharge
• Vranashodhana — cleans wounds
• Raktastambhana — checks bleeding (haemostatic)
• Krimighna — anthelmintic (against worms)

What the evidence says. Alum's astringent and antimicrobial action is established; the internal classical uses are not.

Side effects and limits

Aluminium-bearing, and chronic aluminium exposure matters in renal impairment because the kidney is how aluminium leaves. Concentrated alum is a mucosal irritant.

Avoid or ask first: Renal impairment — aluminium accumulates.; Prolonged internal use.

A traditional classification, not a recommendation. The full safety record is below.

AS THE CLASSICAL TEXTS AND THE API PRESCRIBE

Chiefly external — as a styptic, a gargle and a wash. Internal use is small and short.

Reported from Sharangadhara Samhita and the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India. Laisha states what the texts prescribe; it does not recommend. No quantity here is adjusted for a particular person — not for agni, koshtha, bala, age, pregnancy, kidney or liver function, or anything already being taken.

Sphatika is classed among the Sadharana rasa / Kshara.

Rasa, guna, virya, vipaka and karma are recorded as the classical texts give them, with the text and section named so a student can open the book and check.

Ammonium alum is sold as phitkari and is not the same salt as potash alum.

Potassium aluminium sulphate dodecahydrate, KAl(SO4)2·12H2O.

A WAY TO REMEMBER IT

Sphatika means crystal or quartz in Sanskrit, and was given to alum for its clear crystalline habit. Alum is from the Latin alumen, which also gives us aluminium.

Sphatika is the classical styptic and is used in raktapitta, in vrana and as a gargle in mukha roga.

Constituents. Potassium aluminium sulphate dodecahydrate, KAl(SO4)2·12H2O.

• This is a study and clinical reference for practitioners and students. The matra and anupana it records are what the classical texts and the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India PRESCRIBE — Laisha reports them, it does not recommend them. They are not a prescription for any particular person, and they are not adjusted for your age, agni, koshtha, bala, pregnancy, kidney or liver function, or anything else you are already taking. Only a qualified practitioner who has examined you can do that.
• Traditional classification is recorded as what the classical texts say, with the text and the place in it named. It is not restated as a finding about a human body.
• Nothing here replaces a qualified Ayurvedic practitioner or a doctor.