Inveterate asthma from babyhood in a child now twelve years. Convulsions, vicious catarrh, great nervousness and irritability preceded and the asthma was very severe. Constant motion of the feet during the paroxysm pointed to Zinc. and results to date are fairly good. This case is not yet cured.
X-ray showed osteomalacia under part of right great toe. History of painful callouses of feet; had been trimmed by chiropodist. Pain like a toothache, fiery red, discharging greenish pus mixed with both blood. Began treatment two years ago. Hecla lava 10M. Healed perfectly; no return.
Do not shake elderly cases the very toes with deep-acting remedies in high attenuations. Avoid consideration of end results or ultimates. Get back to first principles, even if it means retaking the case, with every attention from birth to the present illness. Common symptoms without modalities are useless. Emphasize mental and physical generals; if these are strong do not let your remedy contradict.
Each case of hay fever some symptoms in common, but not every case present the same grouping of symptoms, or all of the symptoms, that go to make up the classical hay fever syndrome. Almost every case presents some atypical symptoms or concomitants that individualize the case to a degree never considered in the textbook delineations.
The summing up of these four characteristics, namely, extreme sensitiveness to pain and touch, extreme weakness in general, and in particular parts, and the sticking pains, make this remedy out alone in the field to tissue destroyers. No other remedy has these symptoms all combined.
Study the materia medica and learn how to use the repertories and be ready to prescribe for the sick, be the disease what it may. To think of a lost of remedies for pneumonia and a list for some other disease is to run some risk of prescribing on the diagnosis rather than on the symptoms of the patient.
It is of the needed things, for those who busy with a great many patients, and I want to confirm the doctors findings, in the main. We do waste a great deal of time, but it is necessary to teach the younger members to be a little more painstaking. It seems necessary that they should take the longer route, at least for a while, but as we get along in our work, we do learn these shortcuts that are really valuable and in no way impair the good of the work.