One remembers a young woman, she had been to the winter sports and came back crippled with rheumatism. One found out that she had become hot skating, it was brilliant warm sunshine, she had thrown off some of her clothes, suddenly a cold wind had come up, the sun had gone behind clouds and it had begun to snow. The result of the sudden change from hot to a cold temperature and the exposure to cold, damp snow plus the suppressed perspiration had led to rheumatism of the neck muscles and back.
This was a typical Dulcamara case and Dulcamara speedily put her right. You will get Dulcamara rheumatism frequently in climates where there are great differences in temperature within twenty-four hours, and in England especially in the autumn warm sunny days and cold nights, especially if there is a cold damp atmosphere, if heavy rain follows on a warm day.
One remembers another patient, she was an elderly woman who suffered a great deal from stiffness in the neck and pains in the head, shooting tearing pains, so that she had to wrap up her neck and head to get relief. These pains were always worse in cold wet weather.
I tried Dulcamara with very little benefit. On further enquiry she volunteered the information that she always knew when there was thunder about, for the pains became unbearable before a thunder storm. Rhododendron has such an aggravation before thunder storm and Rhod. 1M, four hourly, for a week, cleared up the pains and the stiffness which had lasted for many weeks.
“Stiff neck” is quite a common rheumatic affection: Rhus tox. and Bryonia often helps, but there is another remedy which has a particular relationship to the muscles of the nape of the neck and that is the American plant, Cimicifuga: a Black Cohosh. Shall we quote a case illustrating the effect this medicine has? A stout middle aged woman was seen at the Dispensary: her head was drawn back and she could not turn it either to the right or the left.
She could not lie on her back because the muscles of the back were tightly contracted, neither could she lie on her side because the muscles jumped and jerked. She was extremely depressed and gloomy about her condition, nothing could do her any good, she could not get well, she was gone. It was no use trying. She was persuaded to try the Cimicifuga: she was not told, of course, what she had. She thought she got some kind of aspirin, but it was Cimicifuga in very minute dosage — in fact Cimicifuga 30, three hourly, and the next time she was seen all the depression and gloom had gone; the muscles of the nape of the neck were soft and flexible.
She could turn her head whichever way she wished, and all this in less than forty-eight hours. And for a wonder she was quite grateful ! The late Dr. Clarke speaks very highly of the action of the resinoid Macrotin found in this plant. He usually used the Macrotin found in this plant. He usually used the Macrotin in the 3x trituration for lumbago and stiff neck. One has not so far had occasion to use this resinoid, but should a case come along with the Cimicifuga particulars, one would then apply the Macrotin on Dr. Clarkes authority and expect a cure.
