Healings urith Homeopathyby Judyth Reichenberg-UIlman, ND, DHANP, LCSW, andRobert Ullman, ND, DHANPwww.beaithyhomeopathy.com

Mango for Chronic Joint Pain

The Cashew FamilyIf you were to ask any homeopath the number one most

common homeopathic medicine for joint pain, the answerwould unequivocally be Rhus toxicodendron (poisonivy), â member of the Anacardiaceae (cashew) family. Theclassic keynote symptoms for someone needing Rhus toxare stiffness, like a rusty gate, exacerbated by sitting forextended periods of time or from overexertion exposureto cold, wet weather or applications, and amelioratedby motion, stretching, and hot baths or showers. Manypatients exhibiting these features wil l benefit dramaticallyfrom Rhus tox.

Yet a certain number of others wil l not improve withthis medicine, but instead respond beautifully to othermembers of the cashew family. These include Rhusradicans (also poison ivy), Rhus venenata (poison elder orswamp sumac), Mangifera (mango), Anacardium (markingnut), Comocladia (guao), and Rhus glabra (smooth sumac).There are a number of other homeopathic medicines madefrom other Rhus members, including Rhus diversiloha(Californian poison oak). The common sensation of allthese homeopathic plant medicines is that of feeling stiff,tight, stuck, tense, immobile, and paralyzed.

In the following case, we first gave the patient Rhustox, with no beneficial therapeutic effect, then prescribedMangifera (mango). She has responded remarkably well toascending LM potencies of the Mangifera for the past threeand a half years. No other homeopathic medicine has beenrequired.

'I Stayed Off My Feet For a Year'Carolina, forty-eight years old, first cal led us in December

2004. We have treated her regularly by phone consultationsince that time.

I know I'm heading toward menopause. I see it loomingon the horizon. But my main problem is a lot of joint pain.I can't believe it. It's been five years. The pain started inmy feet after a five-mile walk. They say it's not plantarfascitis. I feel the pain right in front of the sticking-out partof the instep bone on the inside of the foot. Orthotics help

somewhat. I was at the point where I couldn't walk aroundthe block. It is better now. I walked four miles today. Istayed off my feetforaboul a year, watching all my musclesatrophy. 1 got rid of all m> shoes. They gave me cortisoneshots in both feet. The injections relieved the pain for onlya couple of weeks. I decided to start swimming.

Then I developed tennis elbow and baseball elbow in bothelbows. ! love to swim. I've done it most of my life. I hadonly gotten up to one mile. Now my elbows are a mess.One day I swam twelve lengths. My elbows are still killingme from then. This past summer my left hip really hurt aftermowing the lawn. The pain is better from stretching. I hadbeen taking Aleve for three years - longer than they advise.I quit yesterday, when I read that it wasn't good for yourheart. I live with the pain. I just try to mask it.

My neck is also bad. There are two spots on either sideof the spine at the top of the left side of my neck. And myshoulder blades hurt on both sides. That's been going onfor a year. I've had a ch.mge in attitude lately, too. I'mmuch more negative than ever before. I open Christmascards and I don't even bave the energy to read them. I haveno desire to do Christmas this year. I just can't climb backup out of this negative thought. I want to be left alone. Ifeel like I'm unleashing it all on my husband.

'I Just Want to Stretch and Feel the Trickle ofHot Water Down My Neck'

When we take a homeopathic case, it is essential toelicit the untreated symptoms, so that we are not confusedby effects of medications. Caroline described her joint paintwhen medication-free:

I visualize it as being really inflamed ... a dull ache.A hurting deep down in tny bones. / ¡ust really want tostretch. Something will crack and it will feel better. Thepain feels better when my husband rubs it really hard. Thesame is true of my feet. Heat or a hot tub feels really good.It helps in the summertime or getting away somewherewarm in the winter. So does a hot shower or bath.

Cold weather aggravates ihe ¡oint pain. Exercise doesn'taffect it either way. I am achy on waking- as if I were WOyears old. When I climb into that shower, I am so ready to

128 TOWNSEND LETTER - FEBRUARY/MARCH 2009

let that hot water trickle down my neck. Also, the elbowpain is worse from lifting anything.

My hip gets stiff if stays in one position for long. I needto switch positions frequently, especially if I go to a playor a movie. I remember having calf pain growing up - Ihad to put a heating pad on the calves when I was aroundeight years old. But I was not willing to give up walking. Iwas a very athletic child. I swam from sixth grade throughhigh school and ran Iwo miles a day in college. Now Ido aerobics and go to a health club, as I have for the pasttwenty-one years.

Carolina also complained of an occasional wart on herleft index finger.

The italicized symptoms sounded very much like thoseof the most common member of the Anacardiaceae family,Rhus toxicodendron. We inquired about previous exposureto poison ivy. Indeed, Carolina confirmed she had beenextremely allergic to poison ivy, and possibly poison oak,as a child:

Once it was so bad that my eyes were swollen shut. I hadto be led around like a blind person. My mother usedcalamine lotion. From then on I just didn't play in thewoods, I've only had maybe one bout of poison ivy as anadult. My husband and I both had to get shots because wecouldn't get rid of it. That was in 1993. The itching andblistering were severe. Spraying them with Clorox helped.We contracted the poison ivy as a result of putting in áSprinkler system and pulling out roots.

/ try to stretch three times a week. I must roll over slowlyin bed or I can hurt my hack. It takes me a little whileto warm up on waking, and I have to take it very slowlyto turn over at night in bed. It's like rolling over in slowmotion so I don't injure myself. It seem.-i like my stomachmuscles /usi aren't strong. I could sit In a chair and crackmy back all day long.'

Carolina continued:

I've always had phlegm in my throat. In fact, my parentstested me for cystic fibrosis... In the wintertime I take on adifferent personality, I move more slowly ... I'm a summerperson. In the wintertime I just kind of get through it. I getgrumpy in cold weather ... The less sun, the less energyI have - that has been true my whole life. At least thisafternoon I'm not taking a nap in the afternoon. I don'thave as many colds and flu when I walk. I developed acnerosaceae, kind of a mask along cheeks and nose, duringmy pregnancies. I looked as if I had a sunglass mark year-round.

I've always been described as an encourager. I alwayswake up with a song in my head. Unfortunately I haven'thad that lately. Generally I'm a lot of fun. Quite social.Lately even I don't want to be with me! My spiritual life isimportant to me. That's where t feel useful and fulfilled. Iadore my extended family. I've been a stay-at-home mom.I've done everything )une Cleaver would have done. Whenthey were little, I dressed like the Clean Room Fairy. I havea rubber chicken that goes with me on every women'sretreat. I tend to take all the blame on myself, but I havereally great girlfriends I can unload on. t have a great life

and a wonderful husband. I enjoy fun, adventure, and Iknit.

A Classic Case of Rhus Tox?All of the italicized information from Carolina's initial

visit would lead nearly any homeopath to prescribe Rhustox. Most of the classic keynotes of the medicine are there,in addition to her jovial personality and athleticism (desireto be moving and active, even at the scale of knitting).Consequently, we prescribed the medicine in a 30Cpotency to take in a plussed format up to once daily. (Anumber of small pellets are placed in liquid [1:3 alcohol towater]; the bottle is shaken before each dose, to graduallyincrease the potency each time.) We felt confident aboutthe prescription.

Carolina's follow-up appointment occurred twomonths later. She reported positive changes in her mood:"Things are rolling off my back." However, her joint painhad become a bit worse. Homeopathy is probably thesafest medicine on the planet, so we are not accustomedto hearing reports like this one. If the medicine is off themark, typically there will be no response whatsoever. But aworsening of the joint symptoms? This was very surprisingto us.

We gathered more information, but the case was clearlythe same. No significant new information was elicited. Allof the symptoms still pointed to a member of the cashewfamily. According to the schema of Dr. Rajan Sankaran, ourteacher, Rhus tox falls under the "typhoid" miasm. Miasmsare hereditary layers of disposition, and Dr. Sankarancategorizes them based on the way in which the patientcopes with the chief complaint and on his/her level ofdesperation. Individuals belonging to the typhoid miasmrespond to their symptomatology with a sudden, intense,do-or-die effort followed by collapse. That was not reallythe case with Carolina. Her approach to the joint pain was:"I just live with it. just try to mask it." This tendency to justendure the symptoms, or to hide them, fits into the "sycotic"miasm. The corresponding member of the cashew familyis Mangifera, or mango. Other than the musculoskeletalsymptoms, Carolina had no real complaints. The only othersymptom of homeopathic mango that fit her case was onethat we did not discover until the next appointment: astrong desire for mango! Mangifera was not a medicine thatwe had previously prescribed. We instructed Carolina totake Mangifera LM 3 up to once a day.

Better than Anti-lnflammatoriesThe initial telephone appointments were less frequent

than usual because Carolina was preparing to move toSouth America. We spoke to her two and a half monthsafter beginning the new medicine. "Now, if I do somethingstrenuous with my elbows, they recover the next day. I'mthinking about lifting weights. My big challenge will be toreturn to swimming. I'm just really pleased. I'm off all of theIbuprofen and Aleve. I don't need them anymore. I didn't

TOWNSEND LETTER - FEBRUARY/MARCH 2009 129

Healing with Homeopathy

think it was possible." When we informed Carolina aboutwhich medicine she was taking, she exclaimed, "I just lovemangoes!"

Six weeks later, Carolina was still doing quite well. Afterthree hours of yard work the previous day, her elbowsagain recovered quickly. We increased the potency of theMangifera to LM 4. The improvement continued. Six monthslater, Carolina reported an overall 70% improvement in herjoints. Over that period of time, we increased the potencyto LM 5, then LM 6. Two months later, Carolina continuedto feel quite well. "Physically I am doing really well. Theultimate test is being able to swim for the first time in fiveyears. My elbows do not hurt, t would probably put myselfin the 857o improvement category. Before the homeopathy,I think 'fibromyalgia' was on the tip of my doctor's tongue.I feel really good. Thank you so much."

Then, another two and a half months later: "I feel like I'mcured. Not only do I swim, but I am starting to lift weightsin my upper body. I would say I'm 957o improved."

Since that time, two years ago, the improvement hascontinued. Carolina completed a successful five-day hike

in New Zealand, swims regularly, and is extremely active.Now fifty-two years old, we have given her nutritional andherbal supplements to relieve her hot flashes, and haveincreased the potency of the Mangifera to LM 8. Eightmonths ago she reported an 85% improvement in herelbows and 1007o in the rest of her joints.

Some homeopaths have found that any member of thecorrectfamily of homeopathic medicines will produce somepositive response. That was not the case with Carolina.Rhus tox, although a cashew cousin, was not close enoughto help her. Mango, on the other hand, found only thanksto Dr. Sankaran's brilliant schema, was just the ticket.

Judyth Reichenberg-Ullnidn and Robert Uliman are licensednaturopathic physicians board certified in homeopathy. Their booksinclude A Drug-free Approach to Asperger Syndrome and Autism;Ritalin-Free Kids, Rage-Free Kids; Prozac Free; Homeopathic Self-Care: Fhe Quick and Easy Guide for ihe Whole Family; Whole WomanHomeopathy; Fhe Patient's Guide to Homeopathic Medicine; andMystics, Masters, Saints and Sages: Stories of Fnlightenment. Theyhave taught and lectured internationally; practice at the NorthwestCenter for Homeopathic Medicine in Edmonds, Washington; andlive part time in Pucon, Chile. They treat patients by telephone aswell as in person. They can bn reached at 425-774-5599 or www.healthyhomeopathy.com.

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