On 19/2/13 a 74 year old male came to me for cracks over palms and soles that he had for the last 6 months. His soles had become hard and dark. There was throbbing pain in both the big toes at night and it was very difficult for him to walk. He had burning of the soles the last 2-3 years, which compelled him to remove his footwear and put his feet on the floor.
His appetite was normal.
Craving: sweets
Thirstless
Stool: Normal, hard at times
Urine: Flow is slow
Perspiration: Not much
Past history: Frequent cough and cold 25 years back.
Family history: Asthma, eczema.
Mental state:
He is very punctual and expects others to be punctual as well. He walks very fast. He gets angry easily and later regrets it. He worked hard work all his life. His older brother used to work harder than he, yet still our patient would order him around. His older brother was afraid of him as he was hot headed. The patient said, “I had weight, people respect me, they call me if there is work”. He would get angry if someone spilled something. He wanted his rotis (flat bread) to be in a perfectly round shape. He wanted everything clean and in its correct place. He did not like children with running noses. He was very impatient to finish his work. He would help anyone in his extended family who was in trouble. He would act as a referee in family feuds. He would leave his own work and help others. He would help people from his community in getting their heart surgeries done. Also he would help in educating the youth in his area. He said we are humans and we must help each other. Once he stood as surety when his nephew took a loan of two lacs from someone. Later his nephew backtracked on the deal, he did the honourable thing and paid off his loan. This caused him lot of grief. The psoriasis got triggered when he took responsibility for his brother and his wife and their son (who took the loan). He asked the doctor “Is it cancerous? Will I have to cut off my leg—how will I live then? I will become helpless and a burden to others”.
His son said he is the “Karta” (doer) of the family. He takes care of everybody in the community. He is a respected figure. His daughter said he has less tolerance to disease and wants to get better very fast.
Case analysis:
Patient had traits of Aurum:
Egotism, Angry, Impatient, Sympathetic, Responsible- not only for his family, but for the entire community.
He also had traits of Arsenic:
Fastidious, Clean, Fear of cancer, Wants fast relief
So I gave him Aurum Arsenicum 0/4 daily.
Rubrics of Aurum arsenicum:
Punctuality
Angry over trifles
Responsibility strong
Fastidious
Hurry
Response to treatment:
In two months his palms and soles became normal. Earlier he was applying Tenovate and Fucidin cream daily without any relief. This is a three year old case. I spoke to the patient last week, and he is fine.
Before Treatment After treatment
Nice case.madam, how u differentiated between Aurum and Kali
I never thought of kali for this patient. Kali lacks the capacity to protect self & is dependent for the same on others. This patient took up responsibility for others & helped them. So i gave him aurum.