Skin Cases
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 2001 Jan / Feb VOL III NO 1.
Dr.(Miss)Kumud Mantri
'Nat-m / Nat-m / Tub / Sep / Sulp / Lyc / Cret

Case 1
Miss N.K, 7yrs came to me on 12th Aug 2000. She had multiple warts on fingertips and palms since two months She was prone to colds and had thick catarrh. P/H Ringworm patches on both legs for which she had received Homoeopathic Rx; Though better, she still had round patches with slight itching.

Appetite: N. Stool: N; Thirst: N; Perspiration profuse with intolerance to heat. Desires lukewarm bath; C2H3.
Desires sweets; milk, chicken. As she was a hot patient with typical location of warts on fingertips and ringworm patches on legs with desire for sweets. I straightaway started with Nat-mur 30 TDS.

21 Aug 2000: Ringworm patches less. Rx-Ct all
17 Oct 2000: Warts shrinking; few fallen off. Ringworm patches less. Rx-Ct all.
27 Nov 2000: All warts fallen off. Itching legs nil; ringworm nil.

Case 2
Miss A.D; 25yrs first seen on 24th Aug 2000. Pt was a fair pretty girl very upset and self-conscious about the numerous viral mollusca on her face; she had very minute ones on her rt upper eyelid; near and around rt eye. Had h/o similiar eruptions near lt corner of lower lip, which she had cauterized.

P/H: Pulm.TB. with severe anemia for which she received AKT. Also suffers from coryza with sneezing and alopaecia in bunches. Though Stools are normal now she has constipation.

Menstrual History: Menarche at 12yrs. Periods late profuse clotted painful. LMP 22nd Jul. BM< Irritable with pain in lower limbs and back. Periodical headache < sun exposure wakes with a headache; very dry skin with easy tanning from sun exposure. Fasting causes vertigo and nausea. Desires salty³ fish³ chicken. Prefers lukewarm bath.
Sleepless before midnight.

Mental Symptoms
Overactive mind. H/o anticipatory anxiety before exams etc; Anxious about the future. Also noticeably dry skin with very scanty perspiration occ in axillae.

Rx Nat-mur 30 tds
6th Sept2000: when she reported improved sleep. All other S/S-SQ. LMP
27thAug2000: Rx-Ctall.
20thSept2000: old eruptions reappeared at corner of lower lip.Sleep:N.

Rx Ct all.
16th Oct 2000: Condition same. Nat-mur 200 TDS.
Pt reported marked improvement in viral molluscum; many had disappeared and many were much smaller. But headache persisted. Rx Nat-mur 200 TDS.
22 Nov 2000: Patient reported further improvement in skin but headache on waking persisted so Rx Tub 1M 4 doses OD given.
11 Dec 2000: Complete disappearance of all viral molluscum. Complete relief from headaches too.

(Editor: Here right remedy required the support of the Intercurrent to help eliminate the moluscum entirely. This is a very good example of the miasmatic block)

Case 3 Mrs N.R.S.,24yrs, first seen on 27th Feb95. She came for Psoriasis since childhood- round spots all over the body. Always < winter; >summer. These spots were not taken very seriously by her family and gradually disappeared on their own. H/o recurrence after last delivery 2yrs ago.

Pt has itching < night; scaling++++ on scalp < near hairline with itching and bleeding < bathing+++. Also suffers from headache < menses before.
Menstrual History: Menarche: 14yrs. Regular cycle. LMP 16th Feb.

Stool: N. C/o bleeding piles once a year.
Appetite: N; DESIRES spicy food .Thirst+. Chilly² O/E
Skin-very extensive psoriatic patches on entire back and rt arm.. Sleepless midnight before; scanty Perspiration.Irritability³.

Pt was married at the tender age of 16 yrs and has 3 FTND all male- aged 7yrs, 4yrs and 2yrs.All the above data points directly to Sepia. So without any hesitation I started the patient on Sepia 30 TDS.

Pt reported every two weeks. She showed a slow but very sure and gradual improvement. Sepia 30 TDS continued till 8th June95 The pt complained of headache MA. Also had burning in skin patches. Due to this new data Sulph 30 3p OD AM given, after which Sepia 30 TDS continued. ( again miasmatic block tackled).

Improvement noted till 7th Aug 95 when patient complained of burning in the scalp with itching.
Now Rx with Psorinum 1M, one dose given, after which Sepia 30 TDS continued.
Patient had taken Oral contraceptives to postpone her periods and was hospitalized for profuse bleeding for three days. Treated with hormones and discharged.

Sepia 30 TDS continued. Next menstrual cycle was regular and normal. But Psoriatic patches had aggravated. Patient was feeling weak. B.P. was 100/70 mm of Hg. Rx Sepia 6 TDS given.
Skin condition gradually improved. Sepia 6 continued till 6th Jan 96 when itching and burning reported. Headache during menses with great aversion for bath. Patient came in disheveled state with skin bleeding on scratching. Also had marked craving for sweets.

Rx Sulphur 30 TDS. Gradual improvement noted. It was continued till 24th Feb 96.
Again patient reported DUB with round spots of Psoriasis on back and scalp.
Rx Sepia 30 TDS resumed. Skin started showing gradual improvement and subsequently in April 96 the medicine was discontinued as patient reported marked relief. This was further confirmed in a recent telephonic conversation.

Remarks
There was a block in healing after a steady improvement in the skin condition, so for a while Sepia 6 was tried but with no relief. A re-evaluation showed symptoms of Sulphur and hence Sulph 30 was prescribed to handle the miasmatic block, after which Sepia was resumed for an irregularity occurred in the menstrual cycle, Sepia was indicated and hence resumed which resulted in a complete cure.

Case 4
Mr. S.P.K, 67yrs was a very successful owner of a spare-parts manufacturing unit. He manufactured spare-parts as per the need of individual end users. He was in great demand as he was really good at his job and consequently became a workaholic. He was also under a great deal of stress as his customers were dependent on restarting their shut down machinery on his quick replacement of the requisite spare-parts. He enjoyed his work immensely and had no health complaints whilst at work. However as soon as he would reach home all his symptoms would gt worse. He was suffering from extensive eczema-like patches with lichenification and very cracked and thickened skin on palmer surfaces of both hands and soles since two years. He had P/H/O Angina pectoris since eight years and is still on allopathic Rx for that ailment. P/H/O tobacco smoking ten years ago. P/H/O renal calculi operated twelve years ago. Had taken steroids six weeks ago for his eczema. Pt also has dyspnea on ascending stairs. Pain in R.knee jt.< descending stairs.

Mental Disposition: Pt is extremely irritable at home, critical, haughty, restless and quarrelsome. He is extremely averse to his wife and especially to his children. This is in stark contrast to his kind and compassionate nature in the past when he brought to his home two of his wife’s bachelor uncles. They were both in their 80’s but he took them under his care. Now he can’t stand anyone in his family. On further questioning he revealed his extreme reluctance to shake hands with anyone due to his skin condition. He also had flatulence, Poor appetite and vertigo < sun heat. He had eructations with heartburn; Occ bleeding per rectum. He was very choosy about his meals and expected piping hot food at every meal.

On evaluation especially of mental state Lyco was chosen;
16-10-95 Rx Lyco 30 TDS continued till 7 Dec 95.
7-12-95: Skin marginally improving. Great craving for sweets. Also very poor appetite. Rx Lyco 200 TDS given. On exam skin shows steady improvement. Pt. complains of flatulence.

10-1-96 Rx Lyco 1M BD given regularly till 6Dec 96.
Skin condition is almost normal .Pt stopped Rx.
In June 97 pt underwent stress test, which was +ve. He was advised angiography, which he refused .He was put on Rx Crategus-o
30-1-98: Pt reported few patches of lichen on dorsum of fingers. Rx Lyco 1M BD given for two weeks.<,/p>

27-2-98: Pt last reported for follow-up. Skin was found to be completely normal.
Pt discharged. No recurrence of the complaint till date.

Dr Padmaja P Shenoy, EB Member, NJH, who has known Dr Mantri for a long period and worked with her, writes:

Dr S Hahnemann has mentioned in his Organon that one single remedy in a single dose is administered and the second dose is repeated when the action of the first dose is complete(though he advocated frequent repetition of 50ML potencies in his footnotes to Sixth edition). We are not certain of the period of action of a particular remedy and proper (or frequent?) repetition equally works as a single dose only. In this way by repeating the dose we complete the gap and the steady flow of curative energy is maintained and it helps in healing the patient.

This does not appear to harm the patient in any way and when the cure is complete the medicine is stopped.

I have watched Dr Mantri’s practice closely for 5 years between Oct’ 83- 87 and seen the results . I had the good fortune of following up her cases-even after 10-12 years later and there was no suppression. Her method, though unorthodox, works and the patients experience a cure. She has been practicing for the last 36 years or so and specializes in long-standing chronic cases-especially skin and arthritis. Her results are heartwarming.

Editor adds: In cases no 2 and 4 only there is frequent repetition of high potencies for some days when the lower potency did not act or progress stalled; it is also noticed that she had given daily a dose of Tub for four days and its rationality is not explained. Maybe a single dose would have sufficed. Nevertheless, definite improvement is seen. We have in earlier issues discussed frequent repetition of high potencies where the experience of Dr Desai has been cited.