RHEUMATISM



There are very few people in our damp Northern atmosphere who have not at some time or other experienced the agonizing pains of acute lumbago. The attack lasts, under ordinary treatment with aspirin and liniment, about ten to fourteen days; outwardly there is very little to show to account for the crippling effect lumbago has on his victims, and yet there you are, chained to your bed, and even the Kings horses and the Kings men could not drag you forth again without shrieks of agony in spite of mocking laughter.

And what can Homoeopathy do for you in such humiliating circumstances? It can be the fairy who, with her magic wand, releases you from your prison, so that you are able to join in the midnight dance and revels of the hobgoblins, should you so desire. This is not an exaggeration nor a figure of speech, but hard fact.

Listen to this: A young office worker had to travel on top of an open bus on a teeming morning: she got well drenched and could not shed her wet garments until the evening, with the result that the next morning she was fixed in bed with a full- blown attack of lumbago; the following details were elicited: pain on first beginning to move and easier after continued motion, restlessness which compelled with the cause of the attack, namely the rain and the wetting, pointed to Rhus tox., and Rhus tox. cleared up this annoying complaint so that she could get back to work within twenty-four hours; this is not an isolated case, but one has repeated this rapid cure again and again with the same remedy.

Sometimes Bryonia is required in alternation with Rhus tox. In a Bryonia case you would find the Bryonia characteristics most outstanding such as the pain comes on as soon as he moves and any movement is so excruciating that he has to lie absolutely still; coughing and sneezing is agonizing, but firm pressure is soothing and grateful. Wherever you find rheumatism, whether in the back muscles or in the neck or in the limbs, provided these details are present, Bryonia will cure.

One remembers a case in a young woman where Bryonia and Rhus tox. were tried with very little benefit; then it was noticed that the patient was rather tearful, that she had to move, kept on moving to get any ease; here Puls. was prescribed, and within less than twenty-four hours this young woman was out of her bed and anxious to return to her job.

Dorothy Shepherd
Dorothy Shepherd 1885 – 1952 - British orthodox physician who converted to homeopathy. Graduated from Hering College in Chicago. She was a pupil of J.T.Kent. Author of Magic of the Minimum Dose, More Magic of the Minimum Dose, A Physician's Posy, Homeopathy in Epidemic Diseases.