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Miss S S, aged 3 ½
years, resident of Baroda, came to my clinic in Bombay with her
grandfather on July 8, 1987 with the following history:
Since 1-½ years, she has had an eruption on the scalp with crust
formation and scaling. On combing the hair, these fall out with
white flakes in large quantities leaving behind raw areas. She
has a poor growth of hair, which is, thin and light brown in
color. (See photo 1). Her skin is usually dry, especially in
winter. She also has a problem of bed wetting, whenever she
sleeps (night as well as day). Sometimes they notice that she
scratches the anal region.
On further
interrogation:
Appetite: good
Thirst: good
Perspiration: normal
Desires: ice3, ice cream3, cold drinks3, bananas, milk
Aversion: sweets
Birth: FTND
Milestones: Teething/ Walking- normal, Talking-late
Mind: Inclined to be stubborn. Mixes well with all. Fears
dark.
No significant past or family history or other symptoms were
available, as the patient’s grandfather had not observed
anything else.
Diagnosis- Seborrheic dermatitis of the scalp with
alopecia
Treatment- (July 8, 1987) Phos 200 b.d. for 3 days.
Follow up:
July 12, 1987: Bedwetting reduced. Scalp ? > Treatment - S.L.
(Placebo) 200 t.d.s. for 1 month. The patient went back to
Baroda.
August 20,1987: Received a letter that bedwetting had stopped
completely for the past 1 week. Hair and scalp show some
improvement. Treatment - Phos 200, 2 doses, (which were taken by
the patient on the 25th and the 26th of August). S.L. was
continued for another month.
September 9, 1987: The patient had been much better all this
time. The symptoms however were coming back. Treatment - Phos
200, 2 doses (taken on September 25 and 26) and S.L. for 1
month.
December 12, 1987: Scalp completely normal. But she occasionally
wets the bed Treatment - Phos 200, 2 doses
January 25, 1988: The patient came to Bombay for a follow-up.
Hair growth was normal. No crusts/ scales on the scalp. No
bed-wetting. (See photo 2) Treatment - No medicine.
There has been no recurrence of any of the complaints till this
day.
Discussion: The drug was prescribed mainly on the basis of
the general cravings and the tendency to hair loss. The positive
response to the infrequent doses administered over a period of
five months can possibly be attributed to deeper similarity
between the patient and the drug than that perceived at the
initiation of treatment.
This case was originally published in the Indian Journal of
Homoeopathic Medicine (www.holisticfoundation.com), Vol. 26,
No.2 of June 1991. |
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