Vitiligo Cured With Homeopathy

Which is the most un-homeopathic question asked by most of the current homeopaths? Well, it is – “What are the homeopathic remedies for XYZ disease?”

Visit any homeopathic discussion websites or forums on social-networking websites where people discuss homeopathy, and you will find only one question – tell us ‘the remedies’ for a particular disease. Believe me, the process of homeopathic remedy selection has not stopped surprising me even after practicing it everyday for more than a decade. We definitely can narrow down our remedy repertoire for a particular disease to 15-20 remedies, but in spite of that, not more than 50% of cases get the benefit of it. Finally one has to understand the case in its individual aspect and prescribe a suitable remedy for it.

The cases of vitiligo [Leucoderma] have always proved tricky to treat, for me. I have tried all sorts of specific remedies [no need to mention], but without any good effect. I only got results in 3 cases [out of 8] and in all of them, the key was the constitutional remedy. I would like to present a recently treated case here:

Vitiligo before and after

Ms KS, age 7 years. Daughter of a rickshaw driver.

Chief complaint:

Skin: Vitiligo since 2 years, spreading rapidly. Earlier she was slightly better with homeopathic treatment, but discontinued treatment as she could not afford it.

It started with the left forearm as a 50 paise-coin sized round patch, which has now enlarged to a diameter of almost 3 cms.

She then got a few patches on her forehead and scalp – left side.

Family history: father has widespread vitiligo almost covering 80% of his body.

Dispositional features:

Ambithermal-Hot; Perspiration ++ especially over the scalp;

Cravings or aversions – nothing specific.

Developmental milestones – normal; No history of dentition aggravation;

Nature:

Emotionally not much affected with the lesions. Continued socializing with friends with the same ease, and without any awkward feeling. She does feel the patches should get resolved. [buoyancy]

Overall she is quite bold and doesn’t have any kind of fear.

She has a tremendous pain tolerance; mother can hardly remember patient crying due to pain, although getting injured is an everyday ritual.

Remedy selection:

Constitutional = Calc Fluor

[Totality: Left sided + Scalp perspiration + Ambi-Hot + buoyancy + pain tolerance]

In my experience, the fluoric element provides a tremendous amount of ‘tolerance’ to the personality. It can be a tolerance to pain or reprimands or criticism or exertion or for that matter anything which generally we cannot tolerate much.

16^th April 2009: case defined Rx: Syphilinum 1M [1]

Placebo BD x 1 month

[syphillinum was given as an anti-miasmatic start, considering the extensive spread of vitiligo in the father’s case, and with appearance of lesions in the patient’s case at a very early age]

20^th May 2009: status quo with all lesions Rx: Calc flour 30 QID

23^rd June 2009: Forearm patch reducing from the periphery;

Face patches – one patch totally gone, others >>; Rx: ct all

22^nd July 2009: Reported to be better – patches resolving Rx: ct all

21^st Sep 2009: Forehead patches gone completely;

Forearm patch – almost 40% better Rx: ct all x 2 months

2^nd Dec 2009: Face patches all gone;

Forearm – 80% better Rx: ct all x 1 month

10^th Jan 2010: Father reported ~100% resolution of forearm

Patches. Patient could not visit. Rx: ct all x 1 month

Update 3/30/2010 : Thanks to her sincere and regular efforts in giving follow-ups and taking the medicines religiously, almost all her vitiligo patches over the body have disappeared in one year.

Plantar Fasciitis - Heel Pain That Hits the Head

I have been treating patients of plantar fasciitis since I started my clinic a decade ago. At first there were patients mostly coming from the professions that needed long periods of standing, like those of teachers or professors or advocates. Recently, one of my happy patients wrote a testimonial in a reputed daily newspaper and that followed a huge number of patients reaching my clinic to get relief from the most troublesome ailment of their life. Let's discuss few things about it.

Our feet are made up of almost 25-30 small bones that are arranged in an arch-shaped manner. Every time we put a step ahead, we put our whole weight on a single foot. This weight bearing gets divided at the knee-joint, the ankle-joint and finally the arch of the foot. To keep the bones in place and to add a buffering or spring-like function, we have got a thick fibrous band, called plantar fascia, that extends from the heel bone till the balls of the foot. It not only helps to reduce the impact but also maintains the curvature of the sole. If due to some reasons it gets overstretched or if it gets weak, due to age or poor health, it starts getting inflamed, resulting into the condition called plantar fasciitis.

The radiograph of many patients suffering with this ailment also show a spike like overgrowth at the base of the heel-bone, popularly called as calcaneal spur. It is a result of the normal wear-and-tear of the bone due to walking on it for our life time and the subsequent healing by calcium deposition by the body. Since it's a repair without absolute rest, it doesn't attend the smoothness it requires and results into a thorny shape. Presence of such spur can result into an additional bothering factor for the inflamer fascia.

As regards the symptoms, the patient of plantar fasciitis typically complains of excruciating pain in the heel region, especially when s/he steps out of the bed first time in the morning or starts walking after a long period of rest. The pain is so severe that the patient almost limps for some time. The pain gets relieved once you walk a few steps. It also gets relieved with cold compresses. Few patients also get pain if they stand for long time or sit on a high-chair with their legs hanging down.

The usual treatment options are giving some pain-killers or anti-inflammatory drugs, that give a temporary relief. If you are aiming for a permanent cure, the best relief can be obtained by trying out homeopathic remedies. I have been treating patients with homeopathic drugs like Calcarea flur, Valeriana, Natrum carb, Cimicifuga and Rhus tox, prescribed as per their individual indications. Once there is more than 80% amelioration in the pain, one should start doing plantar exercises that should be continued for few years to give a better load-bearing capacity to the plantar fibrous tissue.