A Lichen Sclerosis Case Solved with Polarity Analysis

The past two years has been wearing on most of us. Each of us has managed the stress of these times in different ways. For me it meant having more time on my hands as I isolated in my new small town home. The benefit of having more time provided me with the opportunity to study Polarity Analysis, developed by Hiener Frei from Boeninghausen’s work.

Having been in practice for over 20 years (and studying with the likes of Jeremy Scherr and Rajan Sankaran), this approach is unique to the approaches I had been taught. It focuses on the generals in a very detailed way – going through what makes things better and worse.

It is an approach that is both eye opening and elegant, and in some ways easier. I have always been fascinated with the way a case can come together in the story of the client, however, there is an art to a brilliant prescription. Not every case brings inspiration or art. This approach requires less art, more precision, and with it, amazing effectiveness.

The system also requires the client to be a little more observant about their symptoms. And as we all know, those details can sometimes be difficult to obtain from our clients. But the Polarity Analysis checklist provides focus. Clients can learn to observe their symptoms with this sheet, and then the practitioner can go through it with them honing in on case essentials.

The following was one of my first Polarity Analysis Cases taken on July 15, 2021. It is a Lichen Sclerosis case and one that accelerated my interest in Polarity Analysis because it’s a case I would have considered quite difficult in the past.  An ongoing case, the client has had a few setbacks, but her skin has been almost completely clear while the remedy continues to make progress 10 months later.

Andrea, 60 year old woman. July 15, 2021

Andrea comes to the consultation depleted. Besides the Lichen sclerosis, she is also dealing with post Covid, post injection symptoms. She talks about fatigue, brain fog, and decreased stamina. She attributes her ‘dis-ease’ in her life to suppressed emotional trauma. She reports that a ‘narcissistic’ mother has been an ongoing problem. Her recognition of her PTSD and the previous 2 years of the pandemic have pushed her to get help.

Besides the fatigue, brain fog, and skin issues, other symptoms have presented.

•   Diarrhea 5 – 6 x’s per week with nausea and food aversion
•   Random body spasms that incapacitate her
•   Frequent and urgent urination

Her skin lesions are intense around the vulva region and were exacerbated by COVID, and the COVID vaccination.  Other lesions appear behind her left knee, right bicep, left knuckles, left torso, thigh, and breast. ‘Dampness‘ appears to worsen the condition. Affected areas are ‘itchy’ and pressure on the skin can help, though scratching makes it worse.

I’ve inserted the Polarity Analysis Checklist so one can see the repertory analysis.

Plan: Rhus tox 30C  2x/week

As you can see from the analysis Rhus tox comes to the top of the list with quite a large margin in the polarity difference compared to the next few remedies that have similar “hits”.  It became the simple and obvious choice to begin with Rhus tox and see how far it would take us.

Follow Up:  Aug. 25, 2021

“Generally, I am doing a lot better. Probably about 60 – 70% better.  I had some diarrhea this morning, but I am wondering if it had something to do with what I ate.  I am much less food averse, I have less nausea and less diarrhea. I hadn’t had a normal bowel movement in a long time, and I am having what are more normal formed poops.

My skin is much better too, and I am taking the Rhus tox a little more frequently now (we discussed her doing this) and my joints are less sore (we didn’t talk about her joints in the first interview) and the lesions are much better.

The one that gives me the most trouble is the one in my genital area, but the margins have decreased significantly. It’s only between my vulva opening and anus now.  I am only using the tiniest bit of Clobetasol (steroid cream) and Calendula ointment on my thighs.

I did have a flare in my skin in the last month, and it was when there was some major family stuff going on.  I get so angry with my mom, and navigating that with the rest of my family is exhausting. I felt angry, hurt and outraged. “

Plan:  Continue Rhus tox 30C every other day.

September 23, 2021

“I am in better shape than I thought I would be considering I spent some time with my mom. . .  I also have a confession to make: I went on a 4 day trip and didn’t bring my remedy along. Sitting for 4 days in a car did flare my skin some, and I did notice that my joints were also not quite so good.

I started the Rhus tox when I was home again. I did stop the steroid cream, and the lesions that are left are on my bicep, my bottom and under my breast.  A friend asked if I had lost weight. Something has fallen away.”

Plan: Continue Rhus tox 30C  every other day

November 24, 2021

“Still dealing with my mom and her undercurrents of manipulation. But generally I feel really good. Having fun playing with some new recipes.

My skin is about 85% better.  I still want to press on it to soothe it. I still have a little whisper of it on my arm and on my belly. Incontinence is much better too. And my bowels are the most normal than they have been in a year.  More formed, though I still get some diarrhea.”

Plan: Rhus tox MM 10 doses, 10 days in a row.

**** A little note about the choice of potency.  I have been reading Jill Turland’s book “Getting Back On Track” and took a few of her seminars on mega potency trauma remedies.  She considers Rhus tox, one of about a dozen remedies, a trauma remedy.  My experience with these really high doses since I have started to work with them is that they are very gentle and that they seem to get at some of the underlying trauma in the body in the way that lower potency remedies do not.  This client has definitely had major trauma in her life and because the lower potency remedy has worked so well for her, I decided that it was worth trying the high potency dose with her. I was not worried about flaring her skin by that point.

February 25, 2022

“I have energy to exercise more.  I am on my elliptical machine and doing some other kinds of exercise too that feels good. It feels like we are on the way to eradicating all of the skin stuff. For a while it was all gone, and then I had an upset with my mother again.  My joint pain is much better too.”

I love that she used the word “eradicating”.  It seemed to me a good sign that we are on the way to seeing consistently clear skin as well as having many of her other symptoms disappear.

Plan:  Rhus tox 30C as needed.

May 20, 2022

When I decided to write this case up, I hadn’t heard from her for a few months, and wanted to see if things were still holding for her, and also to see how the fatigue and brain fog were.

Here’s what she said:

“My energy is pretty good. I am working more than I was, and I can still get a bit tired, but the brain fog has definitely dissipated.  I am working out and eating less.  I have lost 20 pounds. My bladder symptoms have cleared and my joints feel much better. The body spasms are gone.

My skin had an exacerbation in March after an altercation with my mom.  And since then, it has been a little bit on and off. But I also haven’t been consistent with the remedy.

Plan: Another 5 days of Rhus tox MM

End of case.

One of the things I wondered when I first started using Polarity Analysis was whether or not a narrow focus like this focus on the skin, would also clear other symptoms. (In this case the depletion, brain fog and other post COVID/Vaccination symptoms.  In this case the answer was yes.

Polarity Analysis is becoming a tool that I use often. There is a learning curve around how to get to the most accurate responses. And for some clients, their challenge is learn to watch more closely and gage what makes their symptoms better or worse.

I am grateful to Heiner Frei for his development of Boenighhausen’s work and the research that he has conducted so far to provide more evidence to this system’s accuracy. I am also grateful to Karen Allen and Tim Shannon for the training they are providing for this method.

• For information about Polarity Analysis training, please visit comEnrollment for Aug 2022 is now open.

• Heiner Frei MD‘s website for Polarity Analysis, including his research studies, is: http://www.heinerfrei.ch/