“When the disease is non-contagious, secretion, if present, may be transferred (by scratching) and, when acrid, set up local inflammations; and, hen contagious, scratching is the surest method of inoculation, as in the case of the contagious Impetigo or Porrigo. Children in this way transplant the disease from the head to various other parts of the body. mothers, beyond a doubt, get it about their hands from children.”
199.– Lichen.
DEFINITION.– A non-contagious chronic disease of the skin, characterized by the appearance of small hard papules, about the size of millet seeds, uniform, slightly red, or of the same colour as the skin, closely grouped, but distinct from each other; there is itching and the skin is generally dry and thickened. When disappearing very fine, dry, greyish scales are formed.
The disease appears on different parts of the body, but generally on the front of the fore-arms and hands, and on the inner aspect of the knees.
VARIETIES.– Lichen simplex.– occurring in summer; L. pilaris– the follicles of the hair the seat of the affections; L. circumspectus– the pimples being grouped in small circular patches, with a well-defined border, sometimes with a clear centre; L. agrius– the most serious from of the disease– is seen in grocers, bakers, bricklayers, and washerwomen, sometimes called “baker’s itch”; the pimples are very close, red, inflamed, and have a secretion, with intense itching and burning, febrile symptoms, pains in the limbs, gastric derangements, etc., and lasting, in the acute stage, ten or fifteen days; or L. tropicus– “prickly heat,” which occurs chiefly in hot climates, attacking the parts covered by the clothes, accompanied by a peculiar tingling and pricking; the papillae are of a vivid-red colour, about the size of a pin’s head, but there is no redness of the skin generally; the disease sometimes occurs in this country.
CAUSES.– Constitutional predisposition; irregularities in habits or diet; certain occupations, as those of cooks, bakers, grocers, etc.; hot weather or climate.
EPITOME OF TREATMENT.– Sulph. (simple); Ant.- Crud. (with digestive derangements); Apis or Ledum-P (“prickly-heat”); Ars (L. agrius; chronic cases); Nux jug., Sulphur
ACCESSORY TREATMENT.– Simple, unstimulating food and drink; proper attention to the general health. The daily tepid or cold bath is both preventive and curative of “prickly heat”. it is seldom seen on the face, neck, and hands of persons who frequently wash those parts. See “Causes,” and also “Accessory Measures,” in the two previous Sections.
200.– Strophulus– Red-gum– Tooth-rash.
VARIETIES.– Strophulus may be red or white. Red strophulus (red gum) begins as red blotches, each slightly elevated in the centre; the redness soon fades, and the central elevation enlarges and forms a flattened pimple. They occur on the face, neck, arms, and may even extend over the whole body. White S. consists of pearly, white, opaque pimples, smaller than the preceding– about the size of a pin’s head, usually on the face and arms.
CAUSE.– This is a disease of infants. The appearance of Strophulus, as of Nettle-rash, on the body of an infant is certain evidence of unsuitable diet, and of derangement of the digestive functions. It is also most frequent in children who are kept too much in hot rooms, and excluded from the fresh air.
TREATMENT.– Chamomilla.–This remedy is generally the best, and is often sufficient. A dose thrice daily.
Ant-Crud.– Associated with indigestion, white tongue, etc. Pulsatilla may also be required under like conditions.
Calcarea Carb.– With chronic Acidity.
ACCESSORY MEANS.– The regulation of the diet; abundance of fresh air; clothing sufficient to protect the body from cold, and at the same time, permit of the access of air to the skin; and daily use of the cold or (at first) the tepid bath. Favourable hygienic conditions are necessary in every case, or medicine will prove inefficient. Local irritation from teething, acidity, etc.,, should corrected.
201.– Pityriasis– Branny Tetter.
DEFINITION.– A superficial cutaneous affection, in which there is desquamation — the skin falling off in whitish bran-like scales. Also more or less redness, itching, and heat.
TREATMENT.– Arsenicum is generally homoeopathic. A dose may be given thrice daily. Graphites or Lycopodium may be given if Arsenicum be not sufficient.
ACCESSORY MEANS.– Frequent baths, check the formation of scales. As an application, Glycerine-of-borax is often of great service.
202.– Psoriasis– Lepra Vulgaris– Dry Tetter.
DEFINITION.– A non contagious, cutaneous affection characterized by well-formed, dry, and whitish scales, without vesiculation or pustulation, accompanied by cracking of the skin, and having a disposition to recur.
The general health is not appreciably affected, there being few if any symptoms beyond slight itching, which is worse at the commencement.
VARIETIES.– In the common form of psoriasis there are whitish minute spots, made up of dry, silvery-looking scales, heaped together on tawny-red patches of skin about the extensor aspects of the elbow and knee, and other places where the bones are near the surface ( P. Vulgaris); when the spots are larger, they resemble drops of mortar, and are found on the breast, back, and limbs (P. guttata); then the eruption may be more developed, and extend over a larger surface., sometimes covering an entire limb (P. diffusa); when the eruption runs together in a serpentine form, the scales are thin, and quickly reproduced (P. gyrate); when the scales are large, dry, and adherent, and the patches thickened and cracked, a slight discharge may occur, causing scabs– this is the chronic form (P. inveterate), but none of these are real varieties, only descriptive names.
Psoriasis progresses by an increase in the size and number of the patches, and their extension along the extremities to the trunk. On the other hand, the cure of the disease is marked by diminution of the scales, and more full exposure of the surface beneath, until gradually the eruption disappears, leaving little or no trace of its former existence. It is sometimes, however, a most obstinate disease.
CAUSES.– Psoriasis occurs in persons apparently in good health, but who are probably suffering from some form of defective nutrition, as too growth, bad-living, over-study, anxiety, prolonged lactation, etc., especially where a disposition, often hereditary, exists. The frequent use of state dried fish, and the want of fresh unboiled vegetables, are probably frequent causes. There is some evidence that constitutions more susceptible to Tubercle are more liable to Psoriasis.
TREATMENT.–Mercurius, Iodium, Ac.-nit., iris., Sulphur, Lycopodium, Nux Juglans, Nux Ciner., K.-Hydriod, Petrol, (obstinate cases, scaly patches with deep fissures); Ac.-Carbol., Teuc., Arsenicum(chronic and inveterate cases). Arsenicum is an excellent remedy, and may be given for two or three months in gradually increasing doses. Veterinaries give this drug freely to horses, and it causes great improvement in their coats.
ACCESSORY MEANS.– Local.– Warm baths; preparations of Glycerine (See Secale 27), if the skin be much cracked, or occasional poultices if it be very hard. The application of the ointment of the Iodide of Sulphur or an ointment of Liquor Carbonis Detergens, often proves most useful in Psoriasis. It should be preceded by a warm bath. The ointment of Chrysarobin is almost specific in removing Psoriasis, but as with all skin diseases it is very important to treat the case constitutionally as well as locally. Merely to get rid of the external appearance is not necessarily to cure the disease, of which the eruption is a symptom. General.– Nourishing diet, including frequent small quantities of unboiled vegetables; for growing persons, Cod-liver oil (see Secale 22), except when stale fish is the cause. Any defects in the functions of digestion and assimilation should, if possible, be corrected. Patients who have been overtaxed in mind or body should have rest and change. The daily habit of bathing or cold sponging should be adopted, and will, to a large extent, prevent relapses. Warm and tepid soft-water baths, with the use of pure soap, at bedtime, softens the scales, and promotes the healthy functions of the skin, Free out-of-door exercise is also most useful, and favours the healthy action of the lungs, and the whole of the digestive organs.
203.– Herpes– Shingles.
DEFINITION.– Large vesicle, or small blebs, distinct from each other ( not confluent as in Eczema), occurring in patches on different parts of the body, having an inflamed base, and containing fluid– at first clear, then milky, afterwards quickly disappearing,– and ultimately shriveling, leaving scabs, or being ruptured, then dry up into light-brownish scabs.
VARIETIES.– H. zoster or zona, commonly called Shingles– derives its name from its manner of encircling one-half of the body. It is an acute disease, lasting from fourteen to twenty days, and follows the course of one or more of the cutaneous nerves, generally stopping short in the middle, and has the appearance of a line of patches, like a belt half round the body. It generally affects the trunk, chiefly on the right side, but occasionally the face, shoulder, abdomen, or upper part of the thigh. Ordinary, simple Herpes frequently appears on the lips of persons suffering from pneumonia, Intermittent Fever, Ephemera, and epidemic Cerebro-spinal Meningitis, and often in the course of a common cold. It is most common in the young, particularly during change of weather, and is often preceded by neuralgic pains, the eruption following in the same locality. In some rare cases, ulceration may supervene; there may be much pain, smarting, or burning; and the scars may remain for same time, Herpes zoster is due to an irritation of one of the ganglia of the spinal nerves, and it is preceded, accompanied, and often followed by agonising neuralgic pains. Zona is much dreaded, and uninstructed nurses foolishly state that if the patches extend round the body death is certain to result. There is, however, no danger unless the patient be very old and feeble. it has been found recently that it is in some way connected with exposure to cases chicken pox.
LICENTIATE OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS; MEMBER OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS; LICENTIATE IN MIDWIFERY, LONDON AND EDINBURGH, ETC. PHYSICIAN TO THE READING AND BERKSHIRE HOMOEOPATHIC DISPENSARY.
Author of "The Stepping Stone to Homeopathy and Health,"
"Manual of Homoeopathic Treatment". Editor of "The Homoeopathic World."