TREATMENT



Hypodermic injections of arsenic, mercury, cocaine, phenol, alcohol, the various alkaloids, toxins and antitoxins have been employed in the treatment of skin diseases with varying success. The hypodermic treatment of syphilis will receive due attention at the proper time. Antitoxins, while useful in many general diseases, are of comparatively little effect in dermal conditions. This is due to their uncertain and variable action, for besides tuberculin, which has been successfully used in the treatment of cutaneous tuberculosis, they have been practically abandoned in dermatological practice. The use of thiosinamin will be mentioned in the treatment of keloid and scars.

Vaccines. The theory of vaccine treatment relates to phagocytosis and opsonins which are chemical substances in the blood, possessing the power of destroying bacteria. At the present time, it is not definitely determined whether phagocytes in the presence of the opsonins are responsible for this action or some other combination. According to Wright, “vaccines are any substances that on being inoculated into the body will cause the generation of a protective substance.”The chief disorders treated by vaccines are furunculosis, carbunculosis, acne, sycosis and tuberculosis cutis. To successfully perform this treatment requires much time and the proper laboratory facilities. Briefly stated the process consists in the hypodermic injection of definite quantities of sterilized cultures of bacteria isolated from the affected patient. The two most difficult problems, presented in this method of treatment, are the determination of the proper dosage and the interval of time between the injections. Wright devised a method of measuring the opsonic power of the blood known as the opsonic index which refers to the ratio existing between the amount of opsonins in the serum of the patient with the bacterial infection and the amount in the serum of a normal person. By this method the proper dosage and frequency is approximately figured. It is the continued study of the opsonic index which regulates the further treatment of the disease. But ordinarily the first dose is the smallest and the exact amount of the increase, as well as the frequency of succeeding dose, is absolutely dependent upon the individual findings. Probably vaccine treatment will be perfected in time and will be successfully used in the treatment of many dermal conditions as yet not reached by this means. Stock vaccines, such as are put on the market by the various commercial drug houses, should not be employed when it is possible to obtain the autogenous variety.

Symptomatic medication includes all remedies, no matter what may be their nature or origin, that are prescribed according to symptoms presented by the patient. This method of treatment is based on the same principle wherever and whenever used but varies in its application with the individual. Thus in all quarters of the globe, the homoeopathic physician has the same law of cure but no two cases of the same disease necessarily call for the same remedy. While scientific explanations covering the Hahnemannian theories may not be wholly satisfactory, they at least have the sanction of recent physiological and biological experiments. As a system, empiric medicine with its panaceas, enthroned one day and dethroned the next, presents nothing attractive and has led some of the brightest minds in medicine to embrace therapeutic nihilism.

A prescription based on the totality of symptoms is an ideal but almost impossible task but an attempt should be made to cover the patient’s whole condition as well as his skin manifestations. It is impossible within the scope of this book to offer even a condensed materia medica. Merely as a suggestion, a list of remedies with potencies verified by experience, are given in alphabetical order. After each remedy will be found the name of some diseases whose symptomatology might resemble the provings of the drug in question. I am well aware of the futility of any attempt to outline the use of remedies by such a scheme because any individual with any disease might demand, because of extra- dermal symptoms, a remedy which would not be thought of in a list like the following:

Aceticum acid. (3x-12x). Dermatitis traumatica, edema neonatorum, elephantiasis, sclerema neonatorum, scrofuloderma.

Aconitum (2x-6x). Erythema multiforme, exanthemata, herpes zoster, paresthesia, pruritus, prurigo, urticaria.

Adrenalin chloride (2x-6x). Purpura.

Aethiops (2x). Eczema, favus, herpes zoster, scrofuloderma, syphilis.

Aethusa (3x-12x). Erythema intertrigo, erythema multiforme, pruritus, urticaria.

Agaricus (1x-6x). Acne, angioneurotic edema, eczema, erythema caloricum, erythema multiforme, erysipelas, hyperidrosis, rosacea, seborrhea.

Agnus castus (6x). Eczema, pruritus, psoriasis.

Ailanthus (2x). Erythema scarlatiniforme, exanthemata.

Alnus (0-3x). Eczema, herpes simplex.

Aloe (2x-6x). Acne, eczema.

Alumen (6x-30x). Alopecia, epithelioma.

Alumina (6x-30x). Acne, anidrosis, asteatosis, ichthyosis, sclerema neonatorum, prurigo.

Ammonium carb. (3x-6x). Acne, eczema, erythema scarlatiniforme, exanthemata.

Ammonium mur. (3x). Erythema nodosum, miliaria, dermatitis seborrhoica, sudamen.

Anacardium (0-6x). Eczema, lichen planus.

Anantherum (3x). Bromidrosis, erysipelas, furunculus, herpes simplex, pruritus.

Anthracinum (30x-200x). Anthrax, carbunculus, furunculus, erysipelas, dermatitis gangrenosa, post-mortem pustule, insect bites.

Anthrokokali (1x-3x). Eczema, herpes, pruritus, scabies.

Antimonium crud. (6x-12x). Acne, acne varioliformis, eczema, hydrocystoma, hyperidrosis, impetigo contagiosa, keratosis palmaris et plantaris, miliaria, urticaria, verruca, clavus, callositas.

Antimonium tart. (3x). Acne, dermatitis herpetiformis, impetigo herpetiformis, impetigo contagiosa.

Antipyrin (2x). Angioneurotic edema, eczema, erythema multiforme, pruritus, urticaria, urticaria pigmentosa.

Apis mel. (2x-12x). Angioneurotic edema, carbunculus, erythema multiforme, erythema nodosum, erysipelas, eczema, exanthemata, furunculus, lupus erythematosus, leukoplakia, insect bites, edema neonatorum, urticaria, vaccinal eruptions.

Arbutus (0-3x). Eczema, psoriasis.

Argentum nit. (3x-6x). Acne, acrodynia, ecthyma, pellagra, syphilis.

Arnica (0-6x). Acne, acrodynia, carbunculus, dermatalgia, dermatitis gangrenosa, eczema, erythema hyperemicum, erythema multiforme, erysipelas, erysipeloid, furunculus, psoriasis, purpura, pellagra.

Arsenicum alb. (1x-30x). Acne, eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis exfoliativa, lichen ruber. lichen planus, keratosis pilaris, urticaria, pellagra, purpura, exanthemata, rosacea, herpes simplex, herpes zoster, dermatitis gangrenosa, carbunculus, scleroderma, lupus vulgaris, lepra, erysipelas, carcinoma cutis, sarcoma cutis.

Arsenicum brom. (2x-3x). Acne, eczema, psoriasis, rosacea.

Arsenicum iod. (2x-3x). Acne, acne varioliformis, eczema lichen planus, lichen scrofulosis, erythema induratum, rosacea, sycosis, tuberculosis cutis, syphilis, carcinoma cutis.

Asafoetida (3x-6x). Sensory dermatoneuroses.

Asimina (2x). Acne, exanthemata.

Astacus (3x-6x). Eczema, dermatitis seborrhoica, miliaria, urticaria.

Asterias rubens (6x). Acne, herpes zoster, psoriasis.

Aurum metal., aurum mur. (3x-30x). Acne varioliformis, acanthosis nigricans, erythema induratum, erythema nodosum, lepra, tuberculosis cutis, syphilis.

Bacillinum (30x). Tuberculosis cutis, lichen scrofulous, erythema induratum.

Baptisia (0-6x). Eczema, exanthemata, dengue, typhus fever, typhoid fever, lepra.

Baryta carb. acet., iod., mur. (6x-12x) Acne, alopecia prematura, hyperidrosis, keratosis palmaris et plantaris, eczema, lipoma, colloid degeneration, tuberculosis cutis, verruca, steatoma.

Belladonna (2x-6x). Acne, erythema (all types), dermatitis exfoliativa, lichen ruber, herpes zoster, erysipelas, exanthemata, miliaria, furunculus, carbunculus.

Bellis peren. (0-6x). Acne, furunculus, purpura.

Benzinum (3x). Hyperidrosis.

Benzoicum acid. (2x-6x). Eczema, erythema intertrigo.

Berberis aquifol. (2x). Acne, eczema, lichen planus, purpura, rosacea, urticaria pigmentosa.

Berberis vulg. (0-6x). Furunculus, eczema.

Boricum acid. (3x). Erythema multiforme, edema.

Borax (1x-3x). Acne, eczema, erythema, erysipelas, herpes, plica, trade eruptions, pityriasis rosea, psoriasis.

Bovista (3x-6x). Acne, eczema, acrodynia, pellagra, pruritus, trade eruptions, urticaria.

Bromium (1x-3x). Acne, furunculus, scrofuloderma.

Bryonia (1x-6x). Exanthemata, eczema, miliaria, dermatitis seborrhoica, purpura, sclerema neonatorum, edema neonatorum, scleroderma, urticaria, leukoplakia.

Bufo (6x). Pemphigus, pompholyx, dermatitis herpetiformis.

Cadmium sulph. (3x-30x). Chloasma, dermatitis calorica.

Caladium (3x). Pruritus, rosacea, urticaria.

Calcarea acet. (3x). Dermatitis seborrhoica.

Calcarea carb. (6x-30x). Alopecia areata, eczema, dermatitis seborrhoica, clavus, acromegaly, myxedema, mycosis fungoides, keratosis pilaris, verruca, urticaria, tuberculosis cutis, lichen scrofulosus.

Frederick Dearborn
Dr Frederick Myers DEARBORN (1876-1960)
American homeopath, he directed several hospitals in New York.
Professor of dermatology.
Served as Lieut. Colonel during the 1st World War.
See his book online: American homeopathy in the world war