Useful drugs are: Apis, Arnica, Hepar sulphuris, Rhus toxicodendron and Sulphur.
(d) Medicinal dermatitis is an inflammation of the skin due to taking certain medicines, such as Arsenic, Antipyrin, Belladonna, Bromides, Iodines, Silver nitrate, Quinine. The drug in question must be stopped and the antidote given.
(e) X-ray dermatitis is due to too long or too frequent exposure to X-rays. This kind of dermatitis is characterized by pigmentation and ulcers. The treatment is very difficult and tiresome. We can try to antidote it by giving X-ray in high potencies internally. Calendula, Arnica or Hamamelis in the shape of oil, glycerine or diluted spirit must be used for the local treatment of the ulcers.
Dermatitis seborrhica. This condition is characterized by patches and red papules with thin, fatty, slightly adherent scabs. It is located mainly on the head, beginning at the forehead. It expands from here to the eyebrows and the chin. In some cases the region of the breast-bone, the armpit, the shoulder-blade and the abdomen are involved too. The scabs are moist, oily and loosen easily. The disease is due to an increased activity of the sebaceous glands. The question whether a micrococcus is responsible for it or not, it is not settled yet. The treatment is very difficult, as the disease often unresponsive to any treatment.
Washing of the affected parts with soap aggravates the condition. It is better to clean the diseased parts with warm bran-water.
Generally speaking the treatment must avoid everything which would irritate the sebaceous glands, and the organism present. Great care must be taken to keep the digestive system in good order. We must always keep in mind that putrefaction in the bowels is responsible for the majority of the diseases of the skin.
The most frequently indicated homoeopathic drugs are : Natrum muriaticum, Thuja, Calcarea carbonica, Graphites Kalium bromatum and Sulphur.
URTICARIA
Urticaria is a constitutional inflammation of the skin. It is quickly transient, characterized by bright-reddish elevations, sometimes surrounded by a whitish areola. These elevations are either round or oval or irregular. There is always violent itching. The eruptions are either on some circumscribed spots of the body or they are dissipated over the whole body. Vesicles or oedematous circumscribed swelling develops. Serious inflammations of the skin, resulting in permanent changes like thickening, changing colour and scars, may develop through scratching, due to the violent itching. The itching is usually worse in the evening, bed-warmth aggravates it still more. All patients suffering from urticaria show the following characteristic symptoms. When we touch their skin with a hard object, say a pencil, thermometer or penholder, a reddish vascular reaction occurs. Thus we can write on their skin. This symptom is called dermographism.
Urticaria can be either acute or chronic. It is caused by several different factors. Many cases are due to digestive disorders or to eating of special dishes such as oysters, crabs, shell-fish, cheese, pineapple, strawberries, venisons or medicines such as turpentine, antipyrin, copaiva, etc. Urticaria amongst children is often due to intestinal worms.
Other cases of urticaria are symptoms of diseases of the womb, or they are due to gout, rheumatism or nervous disorders.
In all cases the hypersensibility of the circulatory system to external or internal irritation is responsible for the development of urticaria.
The treatment must be chosen according to the special causes of each case, and fortunately is usually successful at once.
The general dietetic and hygienic treatment is the most decisive factor. I refer to my statements in Chapter I.
We alleviate the itching pains by a soft acid cooling ointment or by applying a spirit with 1 per cent salicylic acid, or 5 per cent boric acid.
The most frequently indicated homoeopathic drugs are: Apis, Arsenicum album, Calcarea sulphurica, Rhus toxicodendron, Urtica urens and Pulsatilla.
PRURIGO Prurigo is a chronic inflammation of the skin, characterized by hard nodules. These nodules have the colour of the skin or they are slight pink. The nodules are located on the extensor side of the extremities and on the face. They itch most violently, inducing the patient to scratch himself. The scratching brings about an eczema, discolouring the skin, or haemorrhages leaving scars, accompanied by swelling of the lymphatic glands.
Prurigo usually starts during childhood, often after weaning and may last for the whole life.
Prurigo is a constitutional disease, either due to digestive intoxication or to endocrine disorders. It may be localized, or it may be spread over the whole body. It is a very worrying disease. It is sometimes coupled with other constitutional diseases, as asthma, migraine, diabetes or diseases of the digestive organs. It may also occur during pregnancy or in childbed.
The external treatment is of no use whatsoever. The dietetic and hygienic treatment is of the greatest importance. In some cases treatment with hormones is successful. In most cases we can rely on our homoeopathic drugs: Psorinum, Tuberculinum, Lycopodium, Silica, Sulphur, Agaricus, Kreosotum, Arsenicum iodatum, and Calcarea iodatum as indicated.
SHINGLES (HERPES ZOSTER)
The term shingles means an acute rash, characterized by vesicles on a red base and spread along the course of one or more of the cutaneous nerves. The disease usually affects only one side of the body. The rash is always accompanied by burning pains. The liquid in the vesicles, being clear for the first few days, slowly becomes opaque or purulent and dries up into yellowish-brown crusts.
In rare cases the vesicles become haemorrhagic, burst and lead to ulcers, healing only with scars.
The lymphatic glands are swollen, but do not show any tendency to suppuration.
The sharp excruciating neuralgic pains are often the first symptom of the disease, preceding the eruption for a few hours or days.
Shingles are most frequently located on the trunk between the ribs, but any other part of the body is liable to become involved, such as the face, forehead, the extremities and the abdomen.
Shingles is more common in adults than in children. It may be an infectious disease, for it sometimes occurs epidemically.
The disease usually takes a good turn, recovery can be expected in about two to four weeks, though the type affecting the facial nerve, eyelids, etc., may be both dangerous and troublesome to cure.
Treatment. The local treatment, can be restricted to simple protective measures. A very light covering is advisable.
The homoeopathic treatment is always successful, with Arsenicum album, Mezereum, Ranunculus bulbosus, Rhus toxicodendron and Sulphur, as indicated.
A few words on “cold sores” and herpes genitalis.
These two conditions are harmless. Cold sores often appear in the course of acute infectious diseases, or during menstruation or intestinal disorders. Itching and burning vesicles develop on different parts of the body, either on the skin or the mucous membranes. Within a few days the vesicles gradually dry up without bursting, but forming scabs, falling off after a few days.
If these vesicles develop on the external genital organs,
we speak of herpes progenitalis. This form of herpes has a relapsing tendency.
The differential diagnosis between herpes progenitalis and venereal disease is sometimes difficult.
Keeping the affected parts clean by washing them with soap and hot water, followed by dusting the spots with boric acid or dermatol powder is the best treatment.
Thuja, Croton tiglium or Carbo vegetabilis should be given for the internal treatment.
PSORIASIS
Psoriasis is a chronic, symmetrically occurring inflammation of the skin. It is characterized by papules and red plaques of different size, covered by silvery white adherent scales. The scales can easily be removed, but rapidly reappear. Minute bleeding points appear from forcible detachment of the scales. Dryness and itching are typical of Psoriasis.
The disease usually starts without any subjective symptoms with pin-head sized, reddish macules, which very soon become covered with a whitish scale. The spots gradually enlarge in diameter and the scales thicken, looking like bits of mortar thrown over the skin.
Psoriasis is generally located on the extensor surfaces of the legs, thighs, arms (especially round the elbow), scalp and back, and is rarer on the other parts of the trunk, hardly ever on the hands or soles.
Most cases of psoriasis occur between 25 and 50, but some cases begin in the earliest childhood; others again in senile age.
Psoriasis is a constitutional disease. I underline once more the relationship between the skin and the disarranged chemical balance of the body, spoken of in the first chapter. Nearly 70 per cent of all patients suffering from psoriasis, are constipated, they suffer from uric acid, gout, flatulence and liver-troubles.
These facts are decisive for the therapy.
The dietetic and hygienic treatment must be adapted to the constitution of the patient. Neither meat, nor condiments, nor spirits, nor sweets are allowed. Uncooked food or a lacto- vegetarian diet, especially celery-soup, should be given. Fresh fruits, rice, All-Bran, and walnut oil ought to be taken in large quantities.
