Case 1:
A young schoolgirl of 16 yr. had complaints of Dysmenorrhoea since menarche. She had no other complaints or no major illness in the past. All her family members were healthy.

During menses her pain was severe enough to incapacitate her. She had to miss school and hot fermentation gave little relief. Further questioning revealed that she was a fussy eater, had occasional constipation, but on travels would be severely constipated.

This patient was the youngest of 5 sisters in an average middle class family. Mother had h/o hysteria during menopause.

She was average in studies, mild in temperament, not very ambitious and her hobby was reading romantic books like Mills and Boons. She was fashionably dressed with a trendy hair cut. She was a good-looking girl with a very 'exclusive' behaviour. She was very fussy and picky about many things. Would not change her diet, would not drink more water and there was always the 'I can't do it' attitude for everything.

No Repertorisation was done for this case because it was not needed! The remedy stared me in the face: Platina.

·         'exclusive' behaviour

·         traveler's constipation

·         Mills & Boon stories [sex, romance]

Platina 1M one dose after each menses for 4 months cured her completely of Dysmenorrhoea as well as her constipation. It is now 3 yrs without recurrence.

Case2: Tarsal Tumours Or Chalazion
Another interesting case that I could not include in the Eye issue as it was still under observation is given here.
This condition has to be differentiated from styes. A nodular painless swelling, little away from the margin of the eyelid. It is painless to start with. If pus filled, it bursts and disappears with or without treatment. It poses a challenge when it is large, hard and chronic and recurs in spite of incision and scooping.

My neighbor, Mr. G, 55 years old had Chalazion on left upper eyelid for 1 month. He was advised surgery.
He had been healthy throughout his life, Ambithermal and mature. My observation as a neighbour was- he was quiet, timid, reserved and an introvert. According to his wife, he would seldom open his mouth, would not express his feelings easily and seldom got angry. He was a sensitive person with pent-up feelings.

He was tall, thin and stoop-shouldered. History revealed him to be a Natrum and Staphysagria type of person and he looked like Phos or Tuberculinum patient.

Staphysagria for its well - known action in Chalazion was selected. Staph 200- 4 pills four times a day cleared his eye in 4 days. There has been no recurrence - and I have been watching out for it for last 5 months, so that I could report it!

Case 3:
Ms D an 18 years old national badminton player had c/o chronic tiny painless tumours in both her eyes. Advised surgery for the same. Her chronic colds had responded to Agraphis followed by Tuberculinum. Calcarea-iod was her constitutional remedy. But these Tarsal tumours did not respond to Puls, Staph or her constitutional Calc-iod.

The chronicity and the hardness spoke more in favour of Calc-flour. Weekly and later fortnightly doses of Calc-fl 200 and then 1M cleared the tumours. This case I handled after the Eye issue, and so should be titled Learning from NJH!

Case 4:
Mrs. R L, a 45 yr menopausal woman c/o allergic rhinitis and chronic hard Chalazion on her [L] upper eye lid. She responded well to Puls for her cold and menopausal complaints but the swelling on the eye refused to respond. Other medicines like Calc-flour, Thuja etc did not work either.

If we see Kent's Repertory: it gives Con, Sil, Staph and Thuja under the rubric: nodules in the lids. Conium was selected for chronicity and hardness. This cleared the nodule with no recurrence for last 3 years.

Chronic Conjunctivitis:
It is common in people living in crowded, unhygienic, dusty places. There is burning, discharge and chronic redness of eyes. Phlyctenular conjunctivitis is more common in children. Relapses are common. Tuberculosis and worms should be ruled out. Also MT should be done.

Case 5:
Master C, 11 years old had chronic redness and pus filled discharge from both eyes < after sleep. Allopathic treatment gave little relief. He was given deworming medicine and advised MT to rule out Kochs. He was a lean, thin child of a chubby mother. He had craving for sweets3. Diarrhoea < sweets. Arg-nit 200 4 doses daily for one week cleared his eyes completely.

Case 6:
A 2 years old girl child had chronic redness and watering of eyes. She was a lean and emaciated child though eating well. H/o worms MT -ve. She looked marasmic. Bland discharge with rubbing of eyes and mild cough. On this symptom Euphrasia 200 was given repeatedly and Arg-nit 200 weekly doses helped her a great deal.

Case 7: Recurrent Styes
A 13-year-old teenager complained of recurrent stye on [R] or [L] lower eyelids. Allopathic treatment gave temporary relief. She had her menarche at 12 ½ years with late and scanty flow. She was a lean, thin, affectionate, sporty teenager. Pulsatilla 200 as acute and Sulphur 200, resulted in a heavy flow and for last one year she has had no stye.

Comment: In children we may not always have detailed history, many times constitutional treatment does not help to clear stubborn tarsal tumours. We should not hesitate to consult the repertory and use the drugs given in the eye chapter. Some eye conditions take longer to clear with Homoeopathy, but once cleared, the complaint does not usually recur.

(Editor: Have you seen how cleverly under the guise of the first DUB case, which is actually a Red Hering, Dr Rashmi has put in all her Eye cases. Sometimes it happens that we are so involved with the proof reading of the NJH issue, that we finally get no time to write our own cases. Thank-you Dr Rashmi, for sharing your EYE experiences with us. Next time write your own article first, before seeing anyone else's)