Clinical Cases

Case of Acute Pharyngitis Treated with Homeopathy

Dr. Ranjini Venkatanathan presents a case of acute pharyngitis in which the patient had failed to get relief from self treating with remedies.

The husband of a 38 year old woman contacted me in early 2012, regarding a severe throat infection that she had come down with. He said she was given antibiotics which didn’t help. Also they had tried some over the counter Homeopathic combinations for sore throat and Lachesis 200 a few doses, with no relief of the problem. Since they weren’t getting any relief from self prescriptions, he said they would like to consult a professional Homeopath.

The patient visited me the next day and her complaints were as follows:

  • Ø Recurrent throat infections in the past 9 years.

She has had three very severe, painful attacks, the current one being one of them. She’s been having this episode for a month, took antibiotics with no relief, tried some over the counter Homeopathy which gave some partial relief. Currently having throat pain, feels the throat is swollen and as if something is stuck in the back of the tongue. Unable to move the tongue easily and feels a sharp pain below the tongue on swallowing. The complaint began as a dry throat and then pain which started on the right side of the throat and later moved to the left. Now the pain is present on the left side of the throat, like a pricking sensation. The pains are worse in the early evening around 5 pm. Sometimes wakes up in the night feeling the pain and has to take painkillers then. The pains are relieved significantly by warm drinks. There is no fever. The ENT specialist examined her and says there’s not much of a problem.

The main symptoms I considered in this case for prescription are:

The fact that the pain started on the right side of the throat and then settled in the left.

Pain relieved by warm drinks.

Stiffness of the tongue, unable to move tongue easily.

Pain worse towards evening.

Based on the above symptoms I prescribed Lycopodium 30, three doses a day for 2 days, a total of 6 doses.

She called me the next morning, after having taken 3 doses the previous day and said that her throat pain was very severe that morning after waking. Feels her pains have increased in intensity. I told her to stop taking any further doses and contact me the next day.

I called her back after a week to find out how she was doing, her pains had completely stopped the same day she stopped further doses, and she was completely well and had forgotten to call back and report her status. She had gone pain free for a whole week.

This case demonstrates how quickly Homeopathy can act in acute conditions when the right remedy is given. She was trying Homeopathic combinations and also Lachesis for about a month, with no relief, since it was not the indicated remedy for the situation. This emphasizes the importance of individualizing each case and prescribing the most similar remedy. The aggravation of the complaint after 3 doses was a Homeopathic aggravation which was a good sign, and all the more proved the remedy given was correct.

About the author

Ranjini Venkatanathan

Dr. Ranjini Venkatanathan has been using classical homeopathy for more than 15 years to successfully treat a wide range of cases, both acute and chronic. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery in India and has worked with well-known homeopaths in India and the USA. She is a graduate from the International Academy of Classical Homeopathy in Greece (Prof Vithoulkas’s IACH). Dr Ranjini managed her own homeopathic practice in Bangalore. She currently practices at Sunnyvale Homeopathy located in Sunnyvale, California. Since 2016, she has been working with LM potencies for treating chronic diseases. Visit her website at: https://drranjini.com/

7 Comments

  • DEAR DR
    OF COURSE LYCO IS REMEDY OF RIGHT SIDE AND PAIN TRAVELS FROM RIGHT TO LEFT.IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER IF SOME MORE SYMPTOMS HAD BEEN GIVEN. LIKE DIGESTIVE PROBLEM. LEAN AND THIN BODY OR WITHERED FACE OR AGGRAVATION BETWEEN 4PM TO 8PM ETC WHICH ARE KEY FEATURES OF LYCO. IT IS A GREAT ACHIVEMENT
    THANKS

  • In acutes the correct perception of what individualizes the case is the key to success and this case shows it wonderfully!!! Thanks for sharing your case !!

  • I understand from my Guru Dr. Ghosh that the patient comes to the Dr. to get the relieve. He once explained me that the medicine never fails, its the doctors diagnosis that fails.
    If there is an aggravation of the disease, the doctor must analyse if the aggravation is the aggravation of the disease in itself or an aggravation caused by the medicine. He further advised that if the aggravation is the aggravation of the disease in itself then the higher potency of the same medicine should be given and if the aggravation is caused by the higher potency given then the antidote of the medicine should be prescribed. This much depends upon the experience of the doctor.
    i further understand about the basic principles of homeopathy prescription is that:
    1. The minimum dose to be given
    2. the next dose to be repeated or the medicine needs to be chaged only after the action of the dose taken is exhausted, because the repetition of the dose might aggravate the symptom and can also rather impede the action of the dose taken.
    Although, in this case the patient got relief after stopping the medicine, was it not possible to give only one dose and then wait until the action of the remedy got exhausted before administering the next dose (to keep it also to the first principle of minimum dose)?

  • Yes , its a perfect Lycopodium case.

    But here the same potency of the same drug should “NOT” be used in repeated doses for the reason that after administering the first dose the Vital Force in the constitution, gets rejuvenated and will be getting ready to fight out with the natural disease.

    If any further dose is administered at that stage, the effect of the drug would attack the vital force in that rejuvenated state i.e. when it was not in the natural condition. In other words the constitution is not exhibiting the totality suitable to the drug administered. So, the drug that is repeated or the second dose touches the changed condition of the Vital Force. So, it will not have the required effect.

    At times, it may also leave the person to a still more vigorous disease-state, as seen in the above case.
    So,I feel it is desirable NOT to repeat the dose frequently before the action of the first dose is exhausted. It has also been stated in Hahnemann : Organon of Medicine,
    § 129
    If it is advisable to commence in every instance with a small dose of the drug and, where suitable and requisite, to increase the dose more and more from day to day.

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