Spongia Tosta – The Homeopathic Remedy for Dry Cough, Croup & Laryngeal Disorders

• Common Name: Roasted Sponge
• Family: Porifera
• Type: Primarily acts on respiratory organs, glands, and heart

Sphere of Action

• Respiratory tract – larynx, trachea, bronchi
• Thyroid gland – goitre
• Heart – valvular diseases
• Male sexual organs
• Glandular system and mucous membranes

Mind

• Great anxiety, fear of suffocation
• Irritable, low-spirited, despondent
• Dread of heart disease
• Anxiety especially at night or while lying down

General Constitution

• Scrofulous, fair, fat children
• Suited to people with glandular affections, especially thyroid
• Individuals with weak chests and chronic hoarseness
• Often used in respiratory complaints in children and elderly

Respiratory Organs

• Cough: Dry, barking, hollow, croupy
• Worse before midnight
• Sounds like a saw being driven through wood
• Harsh, rasping, with great dryness of the throat and air passages
• Laryngitis, tracheitis, croup, whooping cough
• Hoarseness with dry throat
• Dyspnea – sensation of suffocation, especially on lying down

Heart Symptoms

• Valvular diseases – especially with palpitations and anxiety
• Chest feels constricted
• Pulse full, hard, bounding
• Pain and oppression in the cardiac region
• Cannot lie down due to fear of suffocation

Head

• Vertigo with weakness
• Heat in the face
• Headache from suppressed eruptions or glandular swelling

Throat & Glands

• Swollen, hard thyroid (goitre)
• Pain and tickling in the larynx
• Dryness and burning in the throat
• Enlarged cervical glands

Modalities

Worse From	Better From
Talking, swallowing, before midnight	Eating and drinking
Cold air, dry air, lying with head low	Warm drinks, sitting up

Miasmatic Background

• Scrofulous, Psoric, and partly Syphilitic

Keynotes

• Croupy, barking cough like sawing through wood
• Respiratory obstruction, worse before midnight
• Fear of suffocation, especially while lying down
• Thyroid swelling (goitre) with hoarseness
• Dryness of respiratory mucous membranes

Relationship

Compare With	Complementary / Follows Well
Hepar sulph, Drosera, Aconite, Belladonna	Iodum (thyroid), Calcarea
Bromium (glandular), Lachesis	Pulsatilla (in children)

Potency & Dosage

• Commonly used in 30C, 200C
• In acute croup or laryngeal affections: 3x, 6C, repeated frequently
• Chronic cases (goitre, heart): higher potencies infrequently

One-Line Summary

"Spongia tosta is the remedy for dry, croupy coughs, with anxiety and fear of suffocation, especially before midnight."