Cases



This I ordered him, with directions to take a dose every half- hour till relieved, and then less often until he returned. With this assistance he soon obtained relief, and was able to make a long journey and fulfil his engagement with very little inconvenience.

CASE VII. PILES IN AN INFANT.

Prolapse of the bowel is not at all an uncommon occurrence in children, and is generally associated with constipation and straining. But it is by no means common to have a genuine attack of piles in an infant. This, however, did occur in an infant girl, aged thirteen months, whom I was asked to see. The little patient had been constipated since her birth, but the mother was greatly alarmed by the appearance of the swelling. When the case was described to me I expected to find prolapse, but on examination I found it was genuine pile. Sulphur 30 was prescribed and in a very short time the pile disappeared.

CASE VIII. BLEEDING PILES WITH IRRITATION.

An elderly gentleman, who consults me in the city sometimes, had an attack of bleeding piles some year or two ago, He is of a scrofulous habit, and as a child lost the sight of one eye from inflammation, and many years before I saw him he had fistula, which was operated on. When he first consulted me he was suffering from bleeding piles with a good deal of irritation about the parts, and constipation at the same time. His general as well as local symptoms pointed to Sulphur, and this gave him great relief. An attack of influenza interrupted the progress of the case, and when he was getting better of this a severe attack of bleeding came on and continued. Taking into consideration the constitutional habit of the patient, I prescribed a single dose of Bacillinum 100; the bleeding stopped at once, and though I have since prescribed for him for other ailments, he has never been further troubled with this.

When piles have continued for a number of years the tissues of the part skin and mucous membrane covering the varicosities become largely hypertrophied, and it is not always possible to reduce the hypertrophy by medicines. But it is almost always possible to combat the attendant sufferings, and reduce them to a minimum. If the power of the sphincter muscle of the orifice has been lost, it will be necessary to wear some kind of support, provided it cannot be restored. I will now mention a case of the kind.

CASE IX. A CHRONIC CASE.

A gentleman, between 30 and 40, from the eastern counties, consulted me in the city a year or two back about his general health, and especially an indescribable lassitude impelling him to lie down frequently, even out of doors. In addition to this there was great sensitiveness to cold. Naturally active and athletic, he had never taken any care of himself. As a boy he had been troubled with ascarides. At school he used to over-eat, and would go for days without going to the closet, He also contracted other bad habits at school. His father had suffered from piles, and for five or six years the patient had suffered

c from them severely, with copious bleeding at times. His heart was not sound, being hypertrophied, and he was always conscious of having a heart. He had had a great variety of medical treatment. One doctor gave a strong preparation of nitric acid and purgatives. This treatment had the effect of causing severe haemorrhage after every stool. The piles were large, and with every stool there was prolapse of the lower bowel. There was constipation. He contrived to have the action at night, so that the bowels might recover themselves when the horizontal position was maintained, but in the morning the protrusion had to be replaced and held in position by a support during the day.

Though now regarding his diet carefully, he suffered a good deal from symptoms of indigestion, especially flatulence. He had a tendency to bronchial cough. Most of the year he had wheezing at the chest, inclination to draw a deep breath, and a pretty constant expectoration of clear phlegm, which accumulated in the throat. He also suffered from weakness in the back.

Rx Psorinum 30, four times a day. Unguent Hamam.

This medicine had the effect of restoring his energy to a remarkable degree, the bowels acting fairly well whilst under its influence. In fact, the patient frequently remarked whilst under treatment that my medicines (which were all in infinitesimal preparations) had a marked tonic effect on him, without any of the penalties attaching to ordinary so-called tonics.

After this, Causticum 30, Sulphur 30, Graphites 30, Lycop. 30, Alumen 30, and some others were given with more or less benefit; but the prescription which gave most help was one of Muriatic acid 200 and Graphites 200 in succession, with occasional doses of Bacillin.

The result of the treatment was that though the piles had not been removed, the bowels were enabled to act satisfactorily without the help of purgatives, the piles were more manageable, and the general health very greatly improved.

CASE X.-AN ACUTE CASE OF PAINFUL PILES.

A young lady, Miss C., wrote to me from the country on April 25, 1902, to send her something for piles, which she had had for ten days, but only for one day severely. They came on after riding horse back. I sent her Hamamelis I, every 4 hours and a lotion of Hamamelis O. Two days later I heard that she had had a good night but there was still a great deal of stitching pain through the anus to the left side, which was worse when sitting or lying, and better when standing. I sent discs of Causticum 30, to be taken every hour if the pain continued.

April. 28, 1902. “Ever so much better, but the pains came on so badly at lunch that I began the discs. Cannot sit up for long without pain.” Continue.

April. 30, 1903. “Much better, but pain came on badly in the middle of the day. Bowels act regularly, but cause a good deal of pain. Period began on 28th, but has hardly come on at all. Cannot sit up for long.”

Rx Sulph. 30 every four hours.

May I, 1902. (This report was written the day before the Sulph. arrived.) “Much the same as yesterday. Swelling gone down much in last two days. Pain comes on rather badly in middle of day, with intervals, from 11. 30 A.M. to 2. 30 P.M., but practically none before or after.”

May 2, 1902. “Very much better. Had very little pain. Sleep splendidly. Feel more like an ordinarily person.” Continue Sulph.

After this the patient was well.

CASE XI.- PAINFUL. PILES.

Miss P., 30, consulted me in November 1903 for painful piles, which had troubled her since the previous April. The patient came of a gouty family, and had had a severe accident ten years before, which had caused prolapse of the uterus and swelling of the whole left limb, and when the swelling subsided it left a varicose condition of the veins of that limb which still persists. She had been vaccinated a second time two years before. She was a very active lady, but the condition of the left limb and the piles made it difficult for her to get exercise

Rx Thuja 30, at bedtime; Hamamelis O, for lotion.

December 27, 1903. PIles have not troubled except on one day, when she did a lot of walking. Does not feel the leg at all. Veins better.

Repeat.

March 8, 1904. Very much better in all respects.

From this time the patient was practically well till the autumn.

August 25, 1904. For the last four to five days has been losing a slight quantity of blood with each motion. This has not occurred since last winter.

Repeat.

September 14, 1904. Has been better. No more bleeding. Very much better; does not feel the piles at all now.

Repeat.

December 15, 1904. Going on well. There is only a slight puckering discernable where the piles were.

Rx Thuja 30 and Sulph. 30 on alternate months.

July 6, 1905. Practically well. Has been able to do a lot of walking in Switzerland. Veins not noticeable now.

Thuja has a very marked influence on rectum and anus; but in this case it acted as much by remedying the vaccinal element in the case as by its local action on the affected veins.

CASE XII. RECURRENT PILES. R.K. a barrister, 35, was cured by me of sciatica in the early part of 1904. In September of the same year he developed an attack of piles. He had some years before suffered from piles, which had been cured under homoeopathy. He was very gouty, much influenced by damp. Had been three times vaccinated, the last time in October 1901; the vaccination had not taken.

September 27, 1904. Has been troubled with piles for a fortnight.

They are aggravated by walking. Good deal of stiffness in back and some pain down sciatic nerve.

Rx AEsculus hip. 3x three times a day. THuja 30 at bedtime. A lotion of Hamamelis 6 to be used after stool.

November 3, 1904. Has been much better. Lately, there has been a return of pain in the back and down the left hip. Very hungry at 3 A.M.

Repeat.

December 6, 1904. Has been much better. One day when there was snow he had pain. Piles bleed a little. 3 A.M., hunger gone.

Rx Aescul. three times a day. Sulph. 30 at bedtime.

January 19, 1904. Has kept free from piles, and was well till the last three days, when there was a relapse brought on by indulgence in wine.

John Henry Clarke
John Henry Clarke MD (1853 – November 24, 1931 was a prominent English classical homeopath. Dr. Clarke was a busy practitioner. As a physician he not only had his own clinic in Piccadilly, London, but he also was a consultant at the London Homeopathic Hospital and researched into new remedies — nosodes. For many years, he was the editor of The Homeopathic World. He wrote many books, his best known were Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica and Repertory of Materia Medica