Volume 108 Number 2
AJHM Summer2015 69
Asafoetida
·
Mammae turgid with milk, like in ninth month,
without being pregnant.
·Newborns with an inflamed mammary gland with secre-
tion of milk.
8) Most complaints affect the
left side
(compare Lachesis
and some of the snake poisons), although there are a fair
number of symptoms affecting the right side as well.
The twitching and jerking are apt to involve the muscles
of the left arm or leg; pain in the left side of the head;
bleeding from the left nostril, etc. Some of the provers
experienced
pain in the whole left side of the body.
·
About midnight violent pains through left half of
body, from top to toe.
·It affects the left side of abdomen, left hypochondrium,
left side of neck and nape, left arm, left leg.
Cases
1.
In 1818, on August 12, my wife, 40, of strong constitu-
tion, choleric temperament, and always well, was stung by
a mosquito on the inner side of the lower part of her left
leg, in the region of the shin
.
After several hours the spot
was very much inflamed, and the foot swollen
.
She took a
footbath of bran, after which she had great pain
.
The suf-
fering part became more inflamed, the swelling increased,
and extended half-way up the calf
.
The second day inflam-
mation increased still more, and small pimples appeared
here and there on the inflamed part, which were opened
.
The same evening these little pimples became ulcers
.
The
ulcers did not heal, but, on the contrary, all formed
one large ulcer.
She was treated unsuccessfully for more
than eighteen months
.
An experienced surgeon ordered a
compress of wine and copper be applied
.
After the first
application, the patient was
almost driven to insanity by
the pain
, yet she bore it in the hope that her leg would be
entirely healed
.
Under this treatment, a
spreading ulcer
,
and at the same time the general health of the patient grew
much worse
.
More doctors and treatments ensued but,
alas, without any beneficial result
.
As the patient had now borne her suffering with un-
equaled patience for six years, I resolved to treat her my-
self, homeopathically
.
On March 15, 1826, an accurate ex-
amination gave me the following symptoms: (Remember
that
Asafoetida
was first proven in 1822 and thus it was not
available when his wife first fell ill.)
She had a
large ulcer
two and a half inches long, one
and a half inches broad,
with hard bluish edges
, on the in-
ner side of the lower part of the tibia, with
visible caries of
the bone
; the
least touch of the edges of the ulcer caused
an unbearable pain
: a
fetid, thin pus
was discharged;
black,
gangrenous flesh above and below the ulcer
;
cold swelling
around the inner left ankle bone
;
extreme sensitiveness
all around the caries; removing the lint or compress caused
violent pain
; fine stitches in the left great toe; heaviness of
the whole body; little sleep, full of dreams;
always at mid-
night violent pain in the left side, from the head to the
great toe
; fever; ill—humored, peevish, irritable mood
.
I could not find a more fitting remedy for her case than
Asafoetida.
On March 17, in the morning, I gave the patient one
drop of the 6C of
Asafoetida
in a few grains of milk sugar
.
On the 18th, the pain in the suffering part was somewhat
lessened
.
The ulcer had a cleaner appearance, the edges
grew softer, she felt a sensation of warmth in the suffer-
ing part, much pus was discharged, still fetid, swelling and
inflammation lessened, and it was evident that a
little piece
of the shin bone would separate.
The
pain in the whole
left side, from the head to the inner ankle bone, increased
about midnight
; removing the lint and dressing the leg was
now attended by much less pain than formerly
.
On the 21st, when dressing the leg, I could see a small
part of the tibia covered with black specks; the ulcer was
dressed twice a day with lukewarm water, and the poultice
renewed every hour
.
The symptoms remained so until
the 24th
. When the lint was removed, there came with it
a small piece of bone corroded by caries
half an inch long
and one—eighth of an inch broad
.
The ulcer was carefully
washed with warm water, and I saw that a small piece of
the tibia had come off
.
The ulcer now had a clean look,
and it was certain that the disease would soon be cured
.
The smell of the pus had lessened; swelling, redness and
hardness of the edges grew less, and one could see that the
ulcer became smaller
.
The general symptoms decreased from day to day, and
on March 31 the patient could walk about the room without
pain
.
On April 2, the hard edges of the ulcer, which grew
small, and discharged little scentless pus, disappeared
.
The
cure now advanced rapidly, the general complaints disap-
peared, and the patient gained strength
.
On April 21 the
ulcer was entirely healed
.
Two years have passed since then, and my wife is enjoy-
ing the best health, without feeling the least pain in her
leg when the weather changes
.
In this way so serious a
disease was cured in thirty six days by a small dose of the
homeopathically indicated remedy, given in strict accor-
dance with our law
.
A quick, swift, mild, and certain cure,
where allopathic treatment, in the course of six and a half
years, had done nothing to relieve, but, on the contrary, had
aggravated the evil
.
4
(N
.
B
.
This case is very similar to a condition called
pyoderma gangrenosum which often occurs after a minor
trauma
.
“Patients with pyoderma gangrenosum usually
describe the initial lesion as a bite reaction, with a small,
red papule or pustule changing into a larger, ulcerative le-
sion
.
Often, patients give a history of a brown recluse or
other spider bite, but they have no evidence that a spider
actually caused the initial event.”
5
2.
A healthy female, 21, found a decided
diminution of the
milk
on the 6th week after her first confinement, so that
her strong and healthy child could not obtain enough of
nourishment
.
She was ordered tincture of
Asafoetida
3,
and after the use of this she continued to suckle her child to
