Dr Vijay H Viashnav
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.
Dr Vijay H Viashnav
Email: drvaishnav@vsnl.com
Web : http://www.drvaishnav.com
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