CLINICAL CASES


CLINICAL CASES. Let us hear from others about remedies used in this most painful and obstinate ailment which often culminates in nerve injection, or cutting of the nerve, leaving at best a paralyzed face and often the shifting of the trouble to deeper centers with disastrous results.


Two Cases of Facial Neuralgia or Tic Douloureux.

Case I-Mrs. E.F.G., fifty-seven and one-half years of age. Severe attacks of right-sided facial pain off and on for some years. Had used coal tar drugs such as Aspirin, Anacin, etc., until they no longer help. Painful attacks start in early morning, awakening from sleep about 4 A.M., and pain continues till bed time. Weather changes < , especially cold. Very sensitive to touch, pressure, jar and motion.

Weeping with the pain. Appetite indifferent, has no food desires or aversions. Modest thirst. Dietary and other living habits are good. Hysterectomy many years ago. Has a discharge of light-colored blood from nipple of right breast almost continually. No pain. No erosion or retraction of nipple. No lumps or swelling of the breast. No glandular enlargement in axilla or elsewhere in the body. The appearance of the face is dusky red and almost mottled at times.

July 5, 1948-Kali cyn. 10M.

August 19, 1948-Kali cyn. 10M. Patient had return of blood from nipple after it had stopped. Is better generally.

Sep. 14, 1948-Remedy continued. Less facial pain and fatigue.

Oct. 14, 1948-Kali cyn. 10M. Nipple healed, facial pain slight after it had creased.

Nov. 9, 1948-Remedy continued, better every way.

Dec. 3, 1948-Kali cyn. 50M.

Jan. 13, 1949-Kali cyn. 50M.

Jan. 27, 1949-Mag. phos. 10M. Had a very severe attack of intermittent pain in the face for past few days. Pin is relieved by pressure and heat.

Feb. 22. 1949-Puls. 10M. Nipple has not discharged blood. Has a severe spot of pain in gum on affected side. Sleeping well. Very sensitive to heat and a close room.

Mar. 18, 1949-Puls. 10M.

April 22, 1949-Puls. 50M.

May 27, 1949-Puls. 50M. Still has some facial pain.

June 17, 1949-Remedy continued. Has been some better. Vision impaired, focus is slow. Some show of blood from nipple.

July 28, 1949-Caust. 10M. Severe pain in face and gums, weakens her in early morning. Weakness of the knees with a sense of shortening of ham string muscles back of the knee.

Sep. 16, 1949-Caust. 10M. More blood from nipple, pain in gums. Better for awhile. (Causticum was not a good prescription. The patient should have been put back on Kali cyn. after Puls. did its work. In all likelihood Puls. would have been better left out also.).

Oct. 5, 1949-Carbo veg. 10M. A severe head and laryngeal cold cleared up under Carbo veg. 10M.

Nov. 11, 1949-Kali cyn. 10M. Neuralgic pain right side of face. Wakens her in early morning. Pulsation in right ear. Oozing of blood from nipple seems past. Numbness of right hand this morning.

Dec. 9, 1949-Arg. met. 10M. No relief of neuralgia. Confined to a small area, never chilly. Prefers cool places < in warm places.

Jan. 6, 1950-Kali cyn. 10M. Bleeding dark brown blood from right nipple. This comes on while bathing. Feels better in the open air and from cold bathing.

Feb. 2, 1950-Kali cyn. 50M. Face pain > very tired from least effort. Sleeps fairly well. A spot of shingles appeared on right breast.

May 29, 1950-Remedy continued. Has over worked and was told by another doctor she had indications of cancer and should have her breast removed. Feels very depressed and frightened about it. Patient was assured she need have no fear of cancer.

June 16, 1950-Remedy continued. Much better every way.

July 28, 1950-Kali cyn. 50M. Hands numb much of the time.

Aug. 25, 1950-Kali cyn. 50M. Slight return of bleeding and face pain.

Sep. 22, 1950-Kali cyn. 50M. After relief, return of symptoms.

Oct. 20, 1950-Remedy continued. Better.

Nov. 28, 1950-Kali cyn. CM. Better generally, but sore nerve point in face wakens her about 4 A.M.

Jan. 11, 1951-Kali cyn. CM. Nerve in face still bothers in early morning.

Feb. 12, 1951-Kali cyn. CM. Pain persists, not too bad.

Feb. 13, 1951-Remedy continued. Bleeding from nipple stopped. Pain persists around nose which is swollen and hot. Cold applications > heat <.

March 13, 1951-Kali cyn. 10M.

April 12, 1951-Kali cyn. 10M.

April 26, 1951-Kali cyn. 50M. Pain in face much better. Only comes when rubbing face hard. Nipple discharge gone.

June 8, 1951-Kali cyn. 50M. Last two weeks has had some slight facial pain and some show of blood from nipple but the patient looks and feels well and is able to work without fatigue.

This patient should in a short time be entirely cured. She may need several potencies of the extreme height. viz.: the DM and MM before this is accomplished; if symptoms remain after these extreme potencies have acted we will drop down to the 12 or 30.

There can be no doubt about this remedy being her specific.

We are not at all proud of the handling of this case. It is likely that had we never broken in on the rhythm of the remedy with other remedies, even though they seemed indicated for some of the acute and changing manifestations of sickness evolving under the similimum, our patient would have been nearer a cure today. We feel lucky that we did not entirely spoil our case by breaking in with a seemingly needed remedy.

We well know that there are cases that one remedy seems unable to do more than start the patient toward a cure and a complementary remedy is needed to finish the work.

Or, as Kent states, at times a remedy corresponding to one miasm in chronic conditions may need to be followed by another remedy to meet another complicating miasm in the system. Such examples come up often in the treatment of cancer and other degenerative diseases.

The second case seems simpler…Mrs. G.W., fifty-two years of age. Neuralgia of face since last October. Teeth X-rayed and declared negative. Good general health, but always more or less nervous. Pressure and applied heat > the pain. Uses no tobacco. Coffee and tea moderately. Had no menstrual troubles. Is subject to hay fever. Wind < the pain. Has taken much Aspirin and other pain killing drugs, they no longer help the pain. She sleeps well, better at rest. Appetite for little food at night. No thirst. Feet always cold. Requires lots of clothing to keep warm. Bowels move without drugs. Pains come and go suddenly (intermittent). Even though pressure >, when pain is on the face is sensitive to touch. May 23, 1951 Mag. phos. 200.

Any tyro in Homoeopathy would have given this patient mag. phos., and that is what she got in the 200th potency.

June 6, 1951-Mag. phos. 10M. Patient reports less frequent attacks of pain and it is much more endurable. The patient states it is quite light.

Mag. phos. was Dr. Kents choice for antidote of Aspirin and similar drugs.

There can be no doubt about the speedy cure of this case with the one remedy, indicated by the symptoms and history of the case.

Let us hear from others about remedies used in this most painful and obstinate ailment which often culminates in nerve injection, or cutting of the nerve, leaving at best a paralyzed face and often the shifting of the trouble to deeper centers with disastrous results.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DISCUSSION.

DR. ROGER A. SCHMIDT [San Francisco, Calif.]: A paper by Dr. Grimmer is always an inspiration.

I should like to mention a case of prosopalgia I had several years ago affecting an old nurse in her late seventies. She had been operated upon for cancer of the breast and heavily irradiated and was in a very miserable condition for months and months. Soon after that operation she started to have a case of prosopalgia on the left side of her face. She tried, of course, morphine and all the other analgesics, with very little help. She needed and wanted very much to go to work, and she was taking care of infants, mostly.

A patient of mine who had been nursed by her fifty years before, or more, just told me of her case and asked me. “Now, do you think anything at all could be done for that woman whom I love very much, and it is such a pitiful thing to see her suffer so much?”.

I said, “I shall be glad to try”.

It seemed that the symptoms brought a clear-cut picture of Spigelia, which I gave in the sixth centesimal potency, repeated daily for a while, with astonishing results; in fact, in a very few days she was practically painless. Her general condition improved and she resumed her activities, and perhaps two or three months later she started to relapse, and the same potency of the same remedy did very good work. I think that must be three or four years ago and she is still active.

DR. WILBUR K.BOND [Greensfork, Ind.]: I wish to report a case indirectly of postpalatine neuralgia, through a very fine prescriber in Indiana, who happened to relate this case to me, and it was a case of laughing neuralgia. I thought it was of particular interest because I dont suppose any of us will ever see a case like it. The harder the pain struck, the more the patient laughed. This prescriber gave Hura brasiliensis, and it was successful.

DR. ALLAN D. SUTHERLAND [Brattleboro, Vt.]: I have mentioned this before because it struck me as such a peculiar situation, and showed my own stupidity. Years ago I had an old lady in her eighties with a very severe facial neuralgia, the details of which I do not remember except there was one outstanding symptom to which for months I paid no attention: the pain, which was severe, always went off at night, so she was able to sleep nights quietly. As soon as the day began, and she was up and around, the pain began again. Finally I cracked wise to the fact that that was an indication for Cimicifuga, and a single dose of the 200. cured it like that.

A. H. Grimmer
Arthur Hill Grimmer 1874-1967 graduated from the Hering Medical College (in 1906) as a pupil of James Tyler Kent and he later became his secretary, working closely with him on his repertory. He practiced in Chicago for 50 years before moving to Florida. He was also President of the American Institute for Homoeopathy.
In his book The Collected Works of Arthur Hill Grimmer, Grimmer spoke out against the fluoridation of water and vaccinations. Grimmer wrote prodigeously, Gnaphalium, Homeopathic Prophylaxis and Homeopathic Medicine and Cancer: The Philosophy and Clinical Experiences of Dr. A.H. Grimmer, M.D.