WILD ROSEMARY, MARSH TEA, LABRADOR TEA.
Introduction
Ledum grows, in this part of the world, in Canada, seeking cold and swampy regions.
Our knowledge of its curative powers is derived from the provings of Hahnemann and his followers.
It “acts,” says Dunham, “on the vital force to this extent, that it interferes with and retards the capillary circulation, and particularly in the extremities and the external surface of the body. This is manifest by the coldness of the ends of the extremities, which characterizes the fever of Ledum… On the organic substance of the body, Ledum acts extensively and peculiarly; witness the effect on the skin, on which it produces eczema…; and the action upon the small joints of the fingers and toes, in which enlargements, nodosities and deposits of inorganic matter do unquestionably occur.”.
Symptoms
There is a general tendency in Ledum to rheumatic affections, especially of the joints, with soreness of the muscles and coldness, and the rheumatic pains travel from below upward (163). As a rule, the pains are sticking, tearing and the various parts of the body seem bruised (166); “pains changes their location suddenly” (149) is the way a pathogenetic symptom reads. There is a decided aggravation of the pains at night and from warmth (160).
There is also a marked tendency to ecchymoses (65) and to haemorrhages, especially of bright red, frothy blood. Slight injuries causes ecchymoses in any part of the body, and it is of value internally and locally, for bruises, for injuries from pointed instruments, and locally, for the stings of insects (122), from mosquitoes up to wasps, it will give quicker relief than anything that I have ever used, although Dunham considers that it is “especially for gouty or intemperate subjects.” Dunham speaks of someone who employed the 15th dilution as a local application. I have always used the 1st.
In the eyes, it is of value for “wounds of the eyes and lids, especially if accompanied by extravasation of blood,” for ecchymoses of the conjunctiva, “traumatic or spontaneous” (Hering) and for intraocular haemorrhages (74).
In the ear there is ringing as from bells, or roaring (65) as from wind, and it is useful for inflammation (63), with deafness, due to catching cold, as after having the hair cut (5).
The menses under Ledum are too early and too profuse (135), amounting to a haemorrhage and consisting of bright red, frothy blood, the patient being one with “absence of vital heat” (Hering) (114), one who has great difficulty in keeping warm. It is of value for fibroids of the uterus (202), with menorrhagia.
From the lungs we find bright red and frothy blood (27) expelled easily with cough; also attacks of rheumatism, alternating with haemorrhage from the lungs (163).
Ledum is of value for synovitis of the knee (125), with great sensitiveness, and for rheumatism of the knee-joint (125), but it is especially so for acute articular rheumatism of the small joints (161), feet (161) and fingers, or for chronic conditions, with gouty nodes or concretions (84). The pains begin in the lower extremities and travel upward (163) but the joints are seldom hot or swollen. The pains shift (149) from joint to joint and from side to side, with a general upward tendency; the pains grow worse in the evening and up to midnight, are worse from heat (160) and the warmth of the bed, and better from cold applications (160).
Ledum must be remembered for soreness of feet and heels (71) from taking cold, as from getting wet, and for the effects of bruises of the soles, with great soreness (72).
It has itching over the whole day, urticaria (201), that shifts from place to place and is aggravated by heat (201).
The skin symptoms are found especially in the steady drinker. It is useful for chronic eczema of the face and for papular eruptions on the face and forehead, and for the red blotches on the forehead found in habitual drunkards. It has been used for the nose that has the so-called “rum-blossom” (145).
I use Ledum 6th.
