See The Ocean In A Single Drop
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 1996 Nov / Dec Vol V No 6.
Mishra S C.
Cases.
` Morb

An approach to a case depends very much on the approach of the patient. What does he want? Permanent cure or just palliation? EDITOR : If he wants palliation, will you, as a Homoeopath, give it to him? No. so it is our business to explain Homoeopathic treatment and approach in detail. If he cannot wait long and patiently to get cured, it is useless to try to put him in that type of treatment. It is better to explain to him the condition beforehand and make him aware of the prognosis so that he can co-operate accordingly.

In the beginning I try to find out the very bold letter remedies through the behavioural pattern of the patient and proceed accordingly and get success without spending too much time in taking a case in detail.

Spontaneous behaviour of the patient - even trifles are very significant for deciding his remedy on the spot, and thats why a Homoeopath should always be very careful, vigilant and simple while taking up a case. All the five senses of the Physician must be very healthy and active to receive the right impression of the patient as a whole. Philosophically speaking, as we can visualise the ocean in its single drop so we too can perceive the patient as a whole in his most strange, striking, singular and peculiar pattern of behaviour.

Is he restless, impatient, quick, hasty, dull, lazy stupid, timid, smart, emotional, over confident, miserly, egoistic, sympathetic, dictatorial etc.?.

I succeeded in curing a boy suffering from severe dry cough with constipation and bedwetting with a few doses of Belladonna on the basis of his impudent behaviour of spitting on my face when asking his name. (NJH Sept - Oct. 93).

One day when I was busy at my desk, suddenly a strong Sulphur odour blew over my nose before a tall young man entered my room. He wanted to consult me. After hearing him I prescribed a single dose of Sulphur which gave him prompt relief. He did not need a repetition or any other medicine.

Many times I have seen, very careful analysis of the behaviour of a patient during consultation helps to select the correct medicine. Cross legged sitting of a female has confirmed many times her uterine complaints or leucorrhoea. We must have a good knowledge of the body language of persons to understand them.

When you try to untangle a matted bundle of wool, you try at first to seek one end of the thread to reach the other end. Similarly, while analysing a patient, you have a discover a vital starting point which will lead you to the core of his central being. But it is not really as easy as said. Sometimes when sitting with a patient face to face, the paper remains blank. "Water water everywhere, not a drop to drink." A long array of symptoms and symptoms but none of them are worth noting. In this situation I prefer to open a fire of Sulphur to disperse the crowd of symptoms and bring the situation under control.

On the contrary, some patients sit silently without giving any details of their troubles. They sit still as if to say "I know nothing, you better tell me what has happened to me. You are the doctor. You should find out the cause why I am suffering. " I send them back with a dose of Staphysagria to report after a week. Some garrulous patients go on talking and talking without caring for time or place, and give no pause for you to intervene. I prefer then to enter the scene with a dose of LachesisStramonium on the first visit.

Some patients need your attention and patient listening to their sufferings and when their emotional drainage is thus over, they hardly need medicine to allay their symptoms.

There are so many instances of arriving at the right medicine at the very first sight of the patient. For example, you can very well remember a case of Dr. M.L. Tyler who, on seeing a lady entering her chamber with a pet in her lap. prescribed Calc carb which was afterwards confirmed by her assistants through long repertorisation.

Dr. P. Sankaran once prescribed Bryonia successfully to a big business who had become irritated abruptly on his long query during consultation. We must then notice that a bold letter symptom is being manifested by the patient and find the remedy.

In case we dont find any symptoms qualified with modalities except the objective one, or the patient could not be motivated enough to relate his subjective and concomitant symptoms whatsoever, we can take the history of the ailments he has already suffered from his since early childhood till date and prescribe the corresponding nosode in the reverse chronological order.

Case:

Mr. X. aged 40, consulted me for his long - standing colic the nature of which he could not explain properly. He could neither give any modality nor could he locate the seat of pain definitely. He had an inexplicable and vague abdominal discomfort. USG report was NAD but he was not able to ignore his suffering at all. he has good appetite, average thirst, good sleep. Bowel movement is regular, slight gas + but not daily. Ambithermal. Temperament - nothing characteristic. F/ H : Nothing particular, Grand Parents died when his father was very young.

P/H : He has suffered from measles at 7 yrs. Typhoid at 10 yrs, Malaria at 12 yrs. Chicken pox at around 13-14 yrs. Having no prominent indications of any medicine, I decided to try at first Variolinum 200/1 then Malaria off 200/1 Typhoidinum200/1 and at  last Morbillinum 200/1 in series. The patient felt somewhat better as the intensity, duration and frequency of colic was reduced greatly. He was put on placebo for sometime and he was completely free from his complaint of colic after I gave him a dose of Pulsatilla for some other complaint.