Kent's - Classical Homeopathy Online

question, "Why is it, doctor, that every time I take cold it settles in my eyes? If I get into a coldatmosphere, or take off my coat after being heated, I have to look out". If it becomes cold in the nightand he has thrown the clothes off, he takes cold, or, if a cold rain comes on, he takes cold and then hassore eyes. Such eyes are very often effectually cured by Dulcamara. As to the eye itself, it is only anordinary catarrhal state, but the manner in which it comes on is the important thing. That is the natureof the patient to have sore eyes whenever he takes cold; it belongs to some other remedies as well, butthis one particularly.Dulcamara has also catarrhal discharges from the nose, with bloody crusts; blowing out thick,yellow mucus all the time. In infants and children who have sniffles, they are always worse in cold,damp weather. When the patient says: "Doctor, in cold, damp weather I cannot breathe through mynose; my nose stuffs up"; or, "I must sleep with my mouth open". Dulcamara is a very useful remedy toknow in catarrhal cases that always stuff up when there is a cold rain.It is markedly an autumnal remedy. The Dulcamara patients go through the summer verycomfortably; their catarrhal conditions to a great extent pass away; the warm days and warm nights,because of the even temperature, seem to agree with them, but as soon as the cold nights come on andthe cold rains come, all their difficulties return; there is an increase of the rheumatism and of thecatarrhal discharges. This medicine has been used a long time by our mothers. They used to makeointments out of Dulcamara. You will find that the old ladies, in almost any rural district in whichDulcamara grows, gather it and make it into a salve for ulcers. Well, it is astonishing how soothing it iswhen applied externally to smarting wounds, whether in solution or salve or any other way. But it is abetter medicine, of course, when indicated by symptoms of the constitutional state; it is a bettermedicine if used internally. It produces ulcers and a tendency to ulceration of the mucous membranesand this condition will become phagedenic. Sometimes it starts as nothing more than an herpeticeruption, but it spreads and finally yellow pus forms and then the granulations that should come, do notcome; an eating condition appears and the surface does not heal.Especially along the shin bone there will be raw places, which even extend to the periosteum, tothe bone, producing necrosis and caries; so we have affections of the mucous membranes or skin, firstbecoming vesiculated and then breaking open and eating. It is especially related to very sensitive,bleeding ulcers with false granulations, phagedenic ulcers. This is not generally known; it is a matter ofexperience with those that have watched this medicine; and again, strange to say, Arsenicum, which Ihave already mentioned once or twice, has this state.Arsenicum leads all other medicines for ulcers that eat, phagedenic ulcers. Arsenicum is atypical remedy for spreading sores, for spreading ulcers, and especially those that come from a bubothat has opened and will not heal.Another feature of this medicine is its tendency to throw out eruptions over the body. It is awonderfully eruptive medicine, producing vesicles, crusts, dry, brown crusts, humid crusts, herpes.Dulcamara produces eruptions so nearly like impetigo that it has been found a useful remedy in thatcondition. i.e., multiple little boil-like eruptions; it produces little boils, and the boils spread.Enlargement and hardness of the glands.Eruptions upon the scalp that look so much like crusta lactea that Dulcamara has been found avery useful medicine. Extreme soreness, itching, and the itching is not relieved by scratching, and thescratching goes on until bleeding and rawness take place.Eruptions that come out upon the face, upon the forehead, all over the nose, but especially onthe cheeks, which become completely covered with these crusts; eczema of infants. Children only afew weeks old break out with these scalp eruptions, and Dulcamara is one of the medicines that youwill need to know. It is about as frequently indicated as any of the medicines. Sepia, Arsenicum,Graphites, Dulcamara, Petroleum, Sulfur and Calcarea are about equally indicated, but of these, in thisclimate at least, I think Sepia is probably more frequently indicated.All of these catarrhal symptoms, the rheumatic symptoms, the eruptions upon the skin, aresubject to the peculiar aggravations of the constitutional state. No matter what the symptoms are, theconstitutional state is worse in cold, damp weather."Catarrhal and rheumatic headaches in cold, damp weather".When the headache is the main trouble, the catarrh takes a different course from what it doeswhen the catarrh is the principal ailment. There are two ways in which that conducts itself. In someDulcamara patients, whenever he takes cold from the cold, damp weather, he commences to sneeze,and to get a coryza, and soon comes a copious, thick, yellow flow from the nose. On the other hand,Dulcamara has a dry catarrh in its first stage, and a fluid catarrh only in the second stage. One who issubject to Dulcamara headaches, has the dry catarrh; whenever he takes cold instead of the usualcatarrhal flow with it, he at first sneezes and then feel a dryness in the air passages, a slacking up of the