Skin problems

Skin problems H. W. BOYD,

M.B., CH.B., M.R.C.P., D . C . H . , F.F.HOM.

I n considering any skin lesion, it is necessary firstly to look at possible underlying causes which m a y be as follows: 1 Infective, either parasitic, scabies or pediculosis, or septic, boils, abscesses, also shingles. 2 Allergic: in this group we m a y include familial tendencies manifesting in atopie eczema. Allergy to local irritants, e.g. nickel, detergents, petroleum, washing and bleaching powders, industrial such as wood shavings, sugar or flour. 3 Dermatitis due to stress. 4 Ache vulgaris and ache rosaeea. 5 Psoriasis and other skin eruptions of unknown aetiology. This will include pustular psoriasis, and those associated with arthritis which will be discussed by other speakers. 6 Warts. 7 Other rarer forms of skin disease. Homceopathic doctors are frequently faced with m a n y of these conditions, very often after the patient has had various types of local application, and has ceased to respond to the treatment or become allergic to it. We must of course exclude causal factors such as the well-dressed cultured lady who had an itchy scalp for which she had had various shampoos, without effect, but when examined was found to have an excellent specimen of Pediculus capitis crawling up her hair. This responded rapidly to conventional treatment. Occupational hazards, nickel, buckles, and, of course, the notorious "whiter than white" washing powders, must be eliminated. My colleague, Dr. Lang, went the length of getting a potency of Ariel for treating some of these. Certain foods such as peas, beans, lentils, milk, and wheaten products and of course shellfish m a y be causal in eczema. Having dealt with these problems the homceopathic physician must, as always, look at his patient as a whole to seek the totality of symptoms. There are certain local skin appearances which m a y guide us to a remedy~ but general and mental symptoms are often essential for cure. I n the course of this casetaking we m a y also come upon a psychological reason for the skin lesion. Local signs of value are: the vesicular eruptions of Rhus fox., the cracks and hacks of Petroleum. The dry cracking with sticky oozing of Graphite,q. The redness and intense itch of Sulphur. The dirty, smelly lesions of Psorinum. Let us look now at a few remedies in more detail. A paper read to the British Homoeopathic Congress at Stirling on 12 September 1975

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GRAPHITES

These patients are often obese, chilly, pale women, with a tendency to be lazy. They may blush easily or have nose-bleeding. They are usually sad, despondent and weepy; apprehensive, timid and indecisive--music makes them weep.

Skin Symptoms Mainly affecting ears, skin and nails, mucous outlets, eyelids, corners of the mouth. The nails are thick and out of shape. Cicatrices and scars may be helped by this remedy. There is crusting, blepharitis, and cracks behind the ears. The eruptions ooze a thick honey-like fluid. There may be a cobweb sensation on the face.

Gastrointestinal Constipation with knotty lumpy stools with mucus, or diarrhoea with undigested foetid motions. Hungry and better for eating. Averse sweet, fish. Peptic ulcer p a i n ~ b y food and drink, hot food, milk. >lying down.

Graphites cases (1) A lady of 37 (Mrs. A.S.) presented with a skin eruption on her forehead, arms and around her mouth of 3 years duration. The lesion was red and itchy, burning with dry scales. There was cracking behind her ears. ~ w a r m room, :>in the summer, ~before M.P., :>hot bath. Generals: ~cold. Desire: savouries, eggs, salt, hot tea. Emotional: :>sympathy, tidy, self-conscious. Anger upsets her skin, anticipation upsets. Graphites 30/1. A month later she reported some ~ f o r 2 days and then :>:>. S.L. was given and her skin remained good for 5 months, until an episode of allergic urticaria. (2) Mr. P., a man of 67. Scaly scalp for years---gets sores on his scalp, cracks behind his ears. No other skin lesion. All sorts of shampoos; been to various specialists with only temporary help. Generals: warm but likes the heat. Desire: savoury, sauce, pickles. Placid, fair]y sociable man with a tendency to be emotional. He was given Cetavlon lotion and Graphites 30/3. Over the next 2 months steady improvement. S.L. given on each occasion. I~ETROLEUM

Patient is hot but skin feels cold.

Skin Cracked, fissured palms, with bleeding eruptions and thin watery oozing. Groin eruptions.
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Vesicles which break and form yellow crusts; itchy, burning vesicles of the genitals. (Rhus ). Occipital headache, vertigo, nausea ~ b o a t or car. Pains in stomach ~eating. Diarrhoea preceded by colic---in the daytime.

Petroleum cases (1) h lady of 31 with a history of dermatitis--itchy blisters on the fingers for 4 years. She had been treated with all sorts of creams with only temporary effect. Petroleum 30/3 given. Six weeks later she reported back with complete healing of her fingers. Six months later a slight relapse responded again to Petroleum 30/3. (2) A man of 47 with a recurring eruption on his left palm for 4 years. The lesion was dry, cracking and itchy. This patient was a nervous man, who also suffered from wheezing attacks, and thyrotoxicosis. These latter ailments have required various remedies and other drugs, but his hand responded very well to Petroleum 30/3, repeated at 2-monthly intervals for several doses. He has been seen recently for other complaints, but his hand remains good over a period of 6 years. SULPHUR

I make no excuse for quoting Sulphur as a skin remedy, as it is one of the commonest and most valuable. The eruptions are characteristically burning and itching, with redness. The body orifices are red--lips, nose, ears, anus, often with excoriating discharge. The eyelids are often red, with blepharitis. Septic lesions and boils are frequent. The skin lesions are ~ b y heat and after washing. These patients are either lean, lank and philosophical, or stout with high colour, redness of the face and coarse hair. They are usually untidy and dislike washing, but do not be put off by a tidy Sulphur, where other symptoms fit. General: ~ f r o m heat and bath, with hot feet. They are usually hungry, especially mid-morning, and have a liking for sweet and tasty food and particularly fat a n d butter. Morning diarrhoea occurs and the patient hates the smell of his stool, although not fussy in other ways.

Sulphur cases (1) A man aged 27 had a skin lesion resembling a tinea infection, which involved his legs, scrotum and anus, and had failed to respond to several different local applications over a period of 4 months. He was a sweaty person ~4th a liking for savouries, cheese, pepper and some fat. He liked hot tea. He was sociable, fairly placid, but with a fear of heights and reasonably tidy. Mainly on the red, raw appearance of the lesion and his general appearance he was given Sulph. 30/1. On reporting back a month later his skin had cleared up within one week of his dose of Sulphur. (2) A boy aged 16 who had a moist itchy eruption of his hands for 3 years.

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This had become worse 2 years previously when his mother had left her family. Betnovate had only a temporary effect. He was a tall fair boy, rather untidy, artistic, fond of painting, a good mixer but with a tendency to worry, and fear of the dark, rather emotional. He liked his food, especially sweet and fat. Sulph. 12c/3 effected a rapid improvement within 2 weeks. We should not forget that polychrest remedies, which we do not particularly associate with skin lesions, will, nevertheless, clear them up ff they suit the patient as a whole. The following m a y help to illustrate this. Miss J . T . aged 57 was seen with Ache rosacea which was so fiery that it had

been treated with penicillin as a case of erysipelas by a previous doctor. This eruption had recurred periodically over the previous year, chiefly on her nose and cheeks and sometimes accompanied by fever. She had no obvious trouble with her teeth or sinuses. She had a past history of Bell's palsy, rheumatic fever in 1942, and a duodenal ulcer. Generals: ~ h e a t , N u x vomica 30/3. After this, steady improvement in both her digestion and her face, which became much more normal. N u x vomica is a chilly, irritable, impatient person, with a desire for tasty food and often a history of gastric symptoms. Miss F . T . aged 20 was seen in August, 1969, with a persistent rash around

her mouth for 3 years. I t was itchy and sore with fine raised spots and she also had blackheads. She had been applying Betnovate and Propaderm, and one wonders, on looking back, if she had in fact been perpetuating her rash with the steroids. This is quite a common occurrence around the mouth, where the patient keeps putting on a steroid preparation for the rash, and only makes it worse. She had a familial hyperbilirubinaemia and a past history of hepatitis. She was very slim, fair, with blue eyes, and this fine red granular area around her mouth which caused her much embarrassment on social occasions. She liked savouries and was upset by greasy, fat food. Full of energy, highly strung, shy but fond of people, weepy, emotional and affectionate. Pulsatilla seemed likely and this was prescribed in 30c potency in August 1969. The rash got worse and then slightly better, but still blotchy, itchy and dry. In September, Nat. mar. 30/1. November skin much ~ , with slight relapse. Nat. mar. 30/1. February 1970--no rash at all. Further letter January 1971, most grateful-it had never come back. Natrum mar. is often a valuable remedy in skin conditions, particularly where eruptions are herpetic, or in ache, but often with a history of some emotional disturbance which requires time and patience to elicit. These people

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are so often reticent, bottled up, tense and even resentful of some situation involving their family or a boy frieDd. Never forget t h a t a skin lesion m a y well be only the tip of the iceberg giving you a signal to probe quietly and tactfully into the real underlying problem, perhaps over several consultations. I f it is there and can be discussed and faced up to, the patient is eternally grateful and the skin lesion disappears. A lady of 57 had persistent dermatitis of her palms and fingers with itch and pairffnl cracks. She had tried various ointments over a period of 2 years with only temporary relief. She was a small active woman who had quite a lot of stress and worry at home. She disliked stuffy atmospheres and was fond of salt and t a s t y foods. She was tense, easily startled, constantly rushing and keyed up. She was frightened of shut-in places, tended to keep her feelings to herself, and wished she could weep, but was unable to do so. Nitric acid and Petroleum were given with slight benefit, but once she got Nat. tour. she made rapid progress and her hands healed up. W h a t pleased her most was the fact that even under stress and emotion her skin did not break down. I n this short paper I have tried to describe an approach to skin conditions, the need to eliminate causal factors where possible and the importance always of looking at the patient as a whole and not just his local lesion. Often these cases are difficult, sometimes we fail, but when a response occurs it is of immense satisfaction to both doctor and patient.

DR. JAMES CAMPBELL MACKILLOP SCHOLARSHIP At the request of the m a n y patients, friends and colleagues of the late Dr. J a m e s Campbell MacKillop, a scholarship has been endowed in his name to enable a British doctor to study Homceopathy at The Royal London Homceopathic Hospital for the Long Course. All colleagues, friends and patients of Dr. MacKillop who would like to make a contribution to this memorial should send their donations as soon as possible to Col. M. C. Barraclough at The Homceopathic Research and Educational Trust, t t a h n e m a n n House, 2 Powis Place, Great Ormond Street, London WC1N 3 H T marked: J a m e s Campbell MacKillop Scholarship Fund. The scholarship of s a term will be advertised in the medical press and will be awarded b y the Faculty of Homoeopathy to the best applicant to have applied by 10 J a n u a r y 1977 for the winter term which commences on 17 J a n u a r y 1977. Doctors wishing to apply for the scholarship award should send a Curriculum Vitae to Col. M. C. Barraclough as soon as possible, which will be submitted to the Dean and Council of the Faculty of I-Iomceopathy. Closing date for candidates to submit their application for the winter term: 10 J a n u a r y 1977. A scholarship will also be awarded for the summer term commencing 18 April 1977 for which application m a y also be made. 15 December 1976