Call from a young lady who seemed in much distress and anxious to see a doctor as soon as possible. She came to office in one hour, after inquiry revealed she had no regular doctor. Her face appeared reddened and puffy, her eyes somewhat closed. Her body from armpits to knees had numerous large red blotches, some of which had the upper layer of skin raised and white, as with a bad burn. It was very hot to the hand, and the patient complained of burning pain all over, worse at these blotches, worse when covered. Blotches larger at skin folds: antecubital, axillary, under breasts, genital, inguinal. It discharged a serous fluid. Obviously some allergic reaction was present.
This condition was of sudden onset, starting with severe itching, becoming worse during the night, with no sleep. How she waited till morning to call a doctor I do not know, and should like to pay tribute to her great consideration for the sleep of the profession, while suffering so much herself!.
She noticed that she had had no hunger, was thirstless, that she tended to hold her breath, that she was occasionally chilly and covered with goose-pimples, though she still burned, that there was a marked decrease in urine output. Upper lip felt thick to her.
Apis 30x, one dose; another in fifteen minutes. In one half hour from the first dose the areas felt less hot to the hand, were less red and swollen. She felt more comfortable in general and breathing was easier. Two more doses were given to take home for afternoon and evening. By evening she was much improved. The next morning showed her smiling, the swelling gone, the redness much decreased, the heat and burning all gone, and she stated that she felt like a different person.
The cause of this condition I am not sure about. She had been receiving vit. E from an obstetrician to help establish pregnancy; she was given a “White ointment” to use on what was diagnosed as ringworm on the inside of her right forearm; she had been in an office that was being painted and on that same afternoon noticed a generalized itching; she had consistently over a period of time used a deodorant (an axillary blotch was the worst); her husband had jokingly painted her name on her back with iodine and these things coincided it is difficult to point to a cause without patch testing.
But I do feel the Apis helped, selected on the grounds of an existing symptom picture: burning, redness, swelling, weepy red and burned blotches on covered parts; thirstless, chilly, dyspnoea; ameliorated by cool air, uncovered.
Mennens oil was prescribed to aid healing of the “burned” areas, to be first used on a small spot to note any reactions before proceeding further. Healing progressed rapidly without further complications.
Apis was used successfully with two measles cases, where the eruption became blotchy, the skin very hot to the hand, the children uncomfortable from either itching or burning of skin, slight fever, the faces were slightly puffy, especially about the eyes, with one child there was marked dyspnoea. Within one hour there was decidedly a marked alleviation of all the above symptoms, especially the dyspnoea, puffiness, burning.
Trying to interpret an existing symptom picture in the peculiar manner needed for homoeopathic prescribing, is an exacting processing. It demands keenest observation and questioning, followed by a synthesis of the facts thus gleaned, in order to differentiate between several possible remedies.
EAST CLEVELAND, OHIO.
