Homoeopathic perspective

SOME  years ago I read in the leading American  medical  journal the  following  joke:  "A newly fledged  medical  man  asked  his experienced  uncle: `I think I ought to embrace some speciality. What would you recommend me to do?' `Become a skin specialist, my boy, become a skin specialist. Skin diseases are not very appetizing, but you can make money in comfort. You will never be disturbed at your meals by an urgent case, you will never be called up in your sleep, your patients will never die and, best of all they will never get well.'" There was much truth in that joke.  Doctors talk glibly about the disorders of the internal organs   which they cannot satisfactorily examine, but the disorders of the skin are a mystery.

Orthodox   medicine has produced bulky text-books of   skin diseases. They are duly classified, labeled and named. They are described in full detail, but their treatment is unsatisfactory. In nineteen cases out of twenty the sufferer is given an ointment or a wash for his complaint. Now a skin disease is not merely a disease of the skin, but is a constitutional disease, the manifestations of which appear in the skin.

The skin is an important organ of elimination which works in partnership with the other eliminating organs, particularly the kidneys.  Diseases are thrown out by way of the skin. If a child has measles or scarlet fever and develops a poor rash, the doctor looks grave. If the child develops a horrible rash the doctor is delighted. Many a dying man has been saved at the last moment by his skin, by profuse perspiration.

The treatment of skin diseases by outward applications is faulty. The old doctors warned of the danger of "driving in" a skin disorder. Nature tries to save the body by eliminating dangerous impurities through the skin or depositing them close to the skin, far away from the vitally important inner organs. The organism deposits gouty accretions in the farthest recesses, in the joint of toes and fingers where they cannot do much harm.  If that process is prevented the morbid matter is driven back into the blood and is often deposited in that heart valves.

 The "cure" of skin complaints by outward applications frequently causes the disease to be projected upon an important organ. Every experienced practitioner   has seen cases in which the disappearance of a skin disease was followed by asthma, heart disease, etc.

With above all understanding there are few more concepts derived by Thorwald Dethlefsen & Rudiger Dahlke M.D. Professional psychologists of Munich in their book “The Healing Power of Illness”. In the said book they explain the skin like;

Skin also functions as protecting outer layer. The skin is the boundary of the “I” – that boundary that has to be transcended if ‘you’ is ever to be discovered. At the same time the skin is the very organ via which we need to make contact in order to touch and caress. It is via our skin, similarly, that we need to please the other person if we are to receive their love.
In the further understanding of Psoriasis If we see the process by which the skin naturally forms a horny outer layer is exaggerated out of all proportion. One can not help but be reminded of armour-platting (Compare the horny armour of some animals). Sufferers are in question are shutting themselves off in both directions. They are no longer willing to let anything either in or out. Reich’s highly appropriate term for the effects of psychological defensiveness and walling oneself off was ‘character armour’. Behind every form of defense there lies a fear of getting hurt. The greater our defensiveness and the thicker our armour, the greater are our inner sensitivity and our fear of injury. A hard shell often hides a soft kernel.

Cases of inherited disease, take long to cure. Hahnemann considered two years the minimum of time for the curing of a chronic disease. Accurate delineation of mental state is crucial for the Homoeopathic management of Psoriasis as it is evidently psychosomatic illness. Some of the important psychic factors which can lead to the illnesses are;

Patients with Psoriasis indulge heavily in SUPPRESSION / REPRESSION.
Scratching is often associated with destructive impulses and fantasies in relation to other person. It has been observed that the claw like position of many patients’ hands suggests that they are inhibiting the desire to scratch someone else. It may be the guilt over having such hostile impulses that lead to destructive self-scratching.
Itch indicates something is ‘biting’ or “bugging” us. It’s an unresolved issue.
To get to the psychodynamics of Psoriasis one needs to explore incisively:
“What is it that is trying to burst through the barriers so as to come to light? Sexuality?
Instinctiveness?
Passion?
Aggression?
Enthusiasm?
Have I condemned myself and isolated?”
SELF CONDEMNATION IS ONE OF THE IMPORTANT COORDINATE IN AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES.

Cases of inherited disease, take long to cure.  Hahnemann considered two years the minimum of time for the curing of a chronic disease. So forth here also considering the dynamics, gravity, pathology & relapsing/remission nature of the disease one must give minimum of two years for labeling the CURE “as it is termed”.

The discussion up till now has made it clear that psoriasis in reality is an internal disease (faulty immune system with genetic predispositions) that manifests itself on the skin. Needless to say the disease is deep seated and calls for well planned deeply acting medicines.  Conventional treatment with steroid can suppress (that is what they call ‘manage’) the symptoms of the disease but cannot cure the disease. On the other hand, it is homoeopathy that has potential to stimulate body’s natural healing capacity and to restore the disturbed immune system.
Homoeopathy treatment: The modus operandi

In short, homoeopathy treats the cause and not merely the symptoms of the disease. As a result, homoeopathy treats the disease and does not merely suppress the portrait of disease.

Homoeopathy…medicine of future
It is in the past few decades that the conventional system of medicine has perceived the paramount importance of genetic tendencies as the root of wide spectrum of diseases and they are yet struggling to find out best possible therapeutic measures to counter these inherited traits.
On the other extreme, homoeopathy has recognized the influence of genetics in manifestation of diseases two hundred years back. Homoeopathy has simple yet very effective measures to fight these predispositions.
Homoeopathic approach is to 'treat the patient as a whole' or 'patient as a person' which is directed to heal the body-mind system from within. The constitutional treatment helps the body's own healing mechanism, enhances body's self-recovery capacity hence leading to a long-term cure.

Homoeopathy case analysis
Every patient of psoriasis is evaluated as an individual case and treated as such. While making the case analysis of psoriatic patients, minutest of the details about the skin lesions are noted carefully, as regard to the location and extent of involvement, peculiar sensations such as itching, burning, pain, involvement of nails, joint pain, the triggering factors including climate, emotional stress, etc. Besides, a greater deal of emphasis is given to patient’s individual features such as eating habits, food preference, thermal attributes, and sleep pattern. The study of the patient's mind and emotional spheres is conducted meaningfully. Besides, patient’s history of past diseases and that of the family diseases is understood to know the miasmatic background of the patients. Further explanation about Homoeopathic aspect of diagnosis is given in the part Examination of patient.

After putting all the vital information together, a fine evaluation process is carried out, an individualist medicine is determined for the patient which treats the patient at an inner level, making healing at a deeper level, treating this chronic disease.
Homoeopathy is a Science of INDIVIDUALIZATION and there are many ways to individualize the case. Individualization is the true way to cure. Whether the symptoms are mental, physical generals or characteristic particulars do not make any difference as long as they leads to a remedy almost similar to a disease picture which the patient presents. I would always say that instead of being Kentian or Boenninghausenian, be a Hahnemannian where there is no Similimum but a similar remedy