Author:
Jayesh Shahn
Book:
Interhomeopathy
Type:
Chapter:
2014.11.05
Meditative approach in chronic skin complaints
by Jayesh Shah
Case 2
The next case is of a 44-year-old man, suffering from palmer psoriasis since many years, first seen on 25th January, 2012. He had been prescribed many remedies by his wife, who is a homoeopath. The remedy that had maximum effect was Staphysagria. He had many small eruptions on the palms, with cracks and occasional itching. When he entered our consulting room, we observed that he was of average build. When he sat down, he was asked how he was feeling in the moment, to which he replied that he was thinking that his consultation should go well.
Here, I again try to coax the experiencing mind to the fore, allowing it to experience whatever the life force has to experience.
As this is explained to him, he spontaneously resonates with the experience of being calm.
The moment he says ‘calm’ I am happy, this means he is plugged into an experiencing mode instead of the thought mode. So, I ask him to close his eyes and experience this calm; to sink into this calm and trust his experience.
As the attention is focused on calm, he started experiencing stillness, peace, and a relaxed state of mind. He started to feel lighter. As the meditation continued further, he started getting some thoughts, where he was again directed to take deep breaths so as to facilitate the experiencing mind.
He started experiencing some sort of heaviness in the head and a sensation of heat in the face. The expression of heat was bright like sunlight. As the meditative process intensified, he started to feel restless. The state of inactivity started disturbing him. At this point, he resonated with the experience of the distress of this disease. It made him feel restricted. He said that the psoriasis robbed him of his freedom. He could not do what he wanted to do, like there was a restriction in touching things like soap, moisturizer, etc. This restriction produced irritation and helplessness. While he was saying this, his hands became tight and folded.
His consciousness had plugged into what his vital force was resonating with. Since his life force had identified this distressful experience, our role here is of a facilitator, a guide, providing him assistance to go further into this journey of life force.
As he came in contact with moisturizers, the skin started to react, initially in the form of itch, which was an uncontrollable urge, then there were blisters, followed by peeling and sloughing off of the skin. This was not a nice feeling for him as it made him feel dirty. The use of his hands became restricted.
JS: So, what is the experience to have this dirty skin, which itches, cracks and peels off?
P: This produces lots of anger.
JS: What is in the center of that anger? Anger is what you become. What is the feeling that makes you angry?
P: The pain is my helplessness. All those restrictions, all your movements are restricted, at home, at the office, and everywhere. It hampers my movements. My freedom is curtailed.
Here, he spontaneously goes to another aspect of his life and said that his desire was to ride a bike or drive a car. The feeling was again of restriction as he cannot drive. He liked to move and be active; this state of inactivity either produced boredom or sleepiness.
Since he has spontaneously shifted to his love for driving, it is appropriate to ask him about his hobbies. When asked, he expressed his passion about travelling. He also likes reading, solving challenging problems, and music. His most intense passion, however, is travelling. It was interesting how he perceived the love for travelling. For him travelling was about seeing new places, new cultures, how people are being brought up, especially how children are being brought up. He further elaborated, saying that we had to ensure that children don’t cross limits: it should be clear when they should be allowed to do a certain thing and when they should not be allowed to get carried away. He was the same way with his children.
This is the general sensation in the case. His skin allows him to do and not do certain things, and he, as a parent, allows and restricts his children from doing certain things. This is his other song.
He becomes very angry and violent when his children cross their limits. He would scream and shout at them. However, this reaction would then make him feel helpless. He feels that he should have handled the situation in a better way, and then, he starts scratching his back again.
We then move on to his dreams. He dreams of missing trains and passing stools. In childhood, he had dreams of snakes. However, this dream did not carry enough energy, so we moved on to his nature. He likes doing things, always likes to be active. When he is free and doing nothing, he becomes restless. He says this with closed eyes. He has two major fears; one was the fear of cardiac arrest and the other was for his children’s education. He is constantly worried about these two things. The case ended here.
In the past, he had joint pains with great difficulty in walking. He has also suffered from jaundice and measles. During the whole case, it was observed that his legs were constantly restless.
On analyzing the case, we have to see what is the common to the case, what is it that runs through different aspects of his life, whether it is the skin complaint, the joint pains, his hobbies or his nature per se. A homoeopath must skillfully trace out the commonality running through various aspects of an individual’s life. So, when we look at his case, his skin problems, his nature, his hobbies and his past history, we see that the case revolves around the polarities of freedom and movement on the one hand, and limitations and restrictions on the other. We see that he is sensitive to being restricted and wants to be free and on the move. The state of inactivity affects him, irritates, and frustrates him. This enables us to understand his experience as plant sensitivity. There is a sensation and there is a reaction.
This kind of sensitivity to restriction, limitation, and the opposite of which is freedom, movement are classical of Anacardiaceae family. Once the kingdom and subkingdom are clear, our next job is to understand the miasm. This disease or eruptions come from time to time, they are not constant. They come up acutely and this makes him feel helpless; his work is hampered or hindered. This is malarial miasm. We see the same in his anger: he gets acutely angry, and then repents. This pattern of acuteness and acceptance is the malarial miasm.5
The remedy from the Anacardiaceae family that corresponds to the malarial miasm is Rhus radicans.
Also, when we read our literature, we find the following references which match the symptoms of the patient.
Murphy’s materia medica6
SKIN - Itching, pricking, stinging. Dermatitis. Poison ivy and poison oak rashes. Hard, red eruptions. Inflamed tubercles, elevations, hard pimples. Pustules, blisters, watery pimples. Vesicular eruption, some disappear without rupture of the cuticle, others burst. Yellow, acrid fluid from eruptions. Erysipelas, especially in hot weather. Small boils. Ulcers. Swelling of the lymphatic glands.2
Here, we see the two sides coming together, the system on one side and the symptoms on the other. This is the perfect coming together of the new and the old school of thoughts, the Synergy. This gives us confirmation about the choice of the remedy.
After a year and half’s treatment, on 20th July, 2013, the patient said that the change has been remarkable. He says he is feeling good, calmer, and patient. Physically, he feels energetic. The skin is much better. Occasionally, he has episodes of throat pain. The acute episodes subsided with the administration of the constitutional remedy, Rhus radicans. Blisters, even if they come, heal on their own. They are not bothersome now, they vanish within a day. He received Rhus radicans 200C to begin with, which was given once every month for six months. He has no more skin issues and he is off treatment. He is enjoying a good healthy life.
In patients with deep seated pathologies and chronic suffering, it is important to create space and allow the experiencing mind to play its vital role. The journey from the thinking to the experiencing mind may be spontaneous or more often facilitated. The patient has to be given encouragement to be in the moment and to trust whatever comes up, to have faith in his experience. The patient’s life force will lead the experiencing mind to where the energy of the case lies. Once the patient has connected to a resonating phenomenon, then my role is to facilitate this process and take it as deep as the life force wishes to experience it. One of the ways to facilitate this process is by giving gentle suggestions to the patient to just give attention to this phenomenon. What comes when taken without any prejudice, combined with the understanding of the Sensation Approach, is a journey of awareness and healing.
Case written and edited by Sneha Vyas and Devang Shah
References
1,4 Rajan Sankaran, The Sensation in Homoeopathy, Miasms, Second Edition, 2005, Homoeopathic Medical Publishers.
2 Rajan Sankaran, The Sensation in Homoeopathy, Vital Sensation and Kingdoms, Second Edition, 2005, Homoeopathic Medical Publishers.
3 Rajan Sankaran, Piperaceae, An Insight into Plants – Vol 3, First Edition, 2007, Homoeopathic Medical Publishers, Mumbai
4 Rajan Sankaran, An Insight into Plants, Volume 1, Second Revised Edition, 2005, Homoeopathic Medical Publishers.
6 ReferenceWorks Pro, 4.2.1.1, Michael Hourigan and David Kent Warkentin, Kent Homoeopathic Associates.
Keywords: Lichen planus, guided meditation, ringworm miasm, palmar psosiasis, malarial miasm.
Remedies: Rhus radicans.