Rhus Tox 595RHUS TOXICODENDRON (Poison Ivy)
Rhus Toxicodendron is better known by its short name, Rhus Tox. It is prepared from a wild plant called ‘bichhoo boo ti’ (poison ivy). Its poison produces severe intractable itching. Th e patient contracts high fever. The appetite is lost. Ther e is nausea and severe headache. The glands become enlarged inside an d out. Sores develop inside the mouth and on the tongue. In 1798, a French doctor accidentally found out that this particular poison cured a serious skin disease of a patient. The doctor subsequently tried this in the treatment of various skin diseases, paralyses and joint pain s and found it very useful. For homoeopathic use, the leaves of the plant are gr ound in the humid season. Rhus Tox is indispensable for homoeopathic doctors. It is used in the treatment of many diseases. The most important symptom of Rhus Tox is burning and inflammation leading to the formation of large blisters .
In fact, the largest blisters associ ated with skin diseas e are found only in Rhus Tox. In Anacardium and Cantharis, blisters are also found but they are relatively small. Rhus Tox benefits the burn’s patients immensely. It must be given at once and in high potency. Besides this, Rhus Tox is highly beneficial in the treatment of paralyses . Right-sided paralysis (hemiplegia) gets better with Rhus Tox and Sulphur used alternately. Even if the patient does not show the whole spectrum of Rhus Tox symptoms, he c ould still benefit to some extent. When the vision of one eye is being affected as a result of severe physical strain or continuous mental overlay and the heart is also under stress, a dose or two of Rhus T ox benefits immediately. In this condition, either there are dancing shadows before the right eye or the right half of the fiel d of vision is lost.
Clinical Observations
Rhus Tox is very beneficial in the treatment of neuralgias that become worse with rest and ge t better on movement. The severe burning sensation does not let the patient rest. He remains restless and does not find comfort in any position. Movement seems to offer Rhus Tox 596comfort to begin with but the pain soon returns. Light movement and light exercise are comforting wh ile strenuous exercise can be dangerous. If the symptoms match completely, Rhus Tox can relieve headache as well as all other body aches . Whenever Rhus Tox is the constitutional homoeopathic reme dy, the patient will enjoy sound sleep in no time, with no anguish or restlessness any more. I have observed it so many times. Some patie nts will even ‘complain’ that the night was too short since they pr eviously used to toss and turn all night! Another symptom of Rhus Tox is mild chronic inflammation of the bladder or the kidneys resulting in the frequent passing of urine at night.
The patient cannot sleep much. He remains restless. Frequency of urination is not always due to di abetes. Similar symptoms are also found in Phosphorus. The patient wa kes up at night for no apparent reason. Even if the patient looks he althy he does not feel like going to sleep. He may wet himself unknow ingly at night. Unexplained frequency of urination associated with restlessness will most probably benefit from Rhus Tox. If skin diseases are forcefully s uppressed with allopa thic medicines, then the disease process may affect the lining of the uterus, mucous membranes or the glands. Sometimes, the condition may become very serious. If the pancreas is afflicted, then the patient can develop severe diabetes . A single dose of Rhus Tox in high potency may immediately cure the patient. No doubt, it will forcefully surface the suppressed eczema on the skin.
Once, in view of some resemblance of the symptoms, I treated a diabetic patient with Rhus Tox in high potency. All of a sudden, his entire body became riddled with eczema but his diabetes was cured. On further questioning, it was found that the patient had suffered from a seriou s kind of eczema in the past that had been suppressed with strong medication and the diabetes had come on later. In this patient, Rhus Tox cured the diabetes, but the eczema returned. Unfortunately, some of these patients do not feel happy to be rid of diabetes but ra ther take the recurrence of the eczema too seriously. In fact, if they continue their treatment patiently using Rhus Tox, their skin disease would also be cured. No doubt, the eczema would flare up in the beginning but eventually disappear gradually. In Rhus Tox, the eczema is of the weeping type.
Once an afflicted lady came to me. She suffered from severe weeping eczema. S h e was even unable to cook food. Her husband and children were also dismayed. I treated he r with Rhus Tox 1000. W ith the first dose, the eczema flared up and then in a few days, the watery discharge started becoming less. On the second dose, after a week, the reaction was less pronounced. In three to four weeks, her hands were looking completely healthy, devoid of any signs of eczema. In my experience, I have found it surprisingly eff ective and beneficial. To my knowledge, there is no substitute for Rhus Tox. If the symptoms are of Rhus Tox, then Rhus Tox and nothing else will have to be administered. Rhus Tox symptoms are very closely related to humidity. In the rainy season, wh en it is also hot, its symptoms become aggravated.
Rhus Tox is also very useful in the treatment of malarial fever . It becomes even more effective if used alternately with Bryonia right at the onset of symptoms. Prevanta tive use of Arnica 1000 will induce the natural body response against malari a. I invite the readers to study Arnica, Arsenic and Natrum Mur also , with reference to malaria. Rhus Tox is also useful in the treatment of fevers other than malaria such as fevers of remittent nature or continuous ones. Such fevers make the patient physically exhausted. The patient feels restless, chills and dryness of the tongue . He is sensitive to cold. The pivotal symptom, is still the persis tent restlessness and aching of the entire body Rhus Tox is very useful in the treatment of cellulitis . This inflammatory process involves the glands, the outer surface of the skin and the inner linings (mucous membra nes).
Detailed Symptomatology
The patient feels pain and tightness. Rhus Tox should also be used in the treatment of endometritis i.e. the inflammation of the inner lining of the uterus. It may possibly treat the underlying condition of the uterus and surface it to the skin. Sulphur 200 and Py rogenium 200 can significantly overcome the disease. When given alternately with Rhus Tox, they offer complete cure, by the grace of God. Rhus Tox can be useful in the treatment of all skin conditions associated with the formation of blisters filled with clear fluid, bl ood or even pus, pr ovided the burning sensation is prominent. Rhus Tox works extremely well in the treatment of infantile paralysis (Polio) . At first, the child cont racts a high fever, which is followed by the gradual onset of paralysis . If someone has previously suffered from polio in early child hood or his leg starts becoming weak, then Rhus Tox should be started without any delay.
Rhus Tox works much better when used altern ately with Sulphur. Sulphur is also very effective in the treatment of paraly tic conditions. Thus, a combination of the two is obvious ly much more useful. Some polio patients have actually been completely cured with this prescription. Sometimes, the whole body becomes nu mb for a short while then the numbness disappears automa tically. However, if there is any sign of associated weakness, Rhus Tox must be given immediately. It seems to work very well. The gradually progressive paralysis of chronic and profound nature may be treated w ith Causticum. Causticum is not a remedy for immediate effect only. In Causticum, the process of paralysis sets in early, soon after e xposure to the cold. When noticed, the patient feels that the paraly sis happened suddenl y.
Partial or localized paralysis of a few muscles responds better to Causticum. In particular, it has no match with re gards to its effectiveness against right-sided facial palsy. Traditionally, Causticum is famous as the ideal remedy for paralysis of the face . In Rhus Tox, the paralysis affects mostly the right side, though its use is not restricted only to the diseases of the right side. Nevertheless, there are some other remedies much stronger and more effective than Rhus Tox for conditions affecting th e left side of the body, such as Lachesis and Ledum, which work wonders when given along with Arnica. Additional use of Cadmium Sulph 30, three times a day, makes the prescription even more effective. If there is still no favourable response, then Sulphur and Rhus Tox should be used alternately.
The Rhus Tox headache resembles very much the headache accompanying fevers. If the sympto ms of the patient resemble one particular remedy, then that remedy alone should be used. If the symptoms are non-specific, then Rhus Tox may often be found useful. Generally speaking, in Rhus Tox th e head feels heavy. The headache begins at the forehead and then spreads backwards to the nape. Rhus Tox 599In Rhus Tox, blood flow to the fa ce and head increases. The skin becomes red, swollen and tender, asso ciated with intense itching. Thick scabs form all over the area of eczema. Out of the lists of eczemas, the one most responsive to Rhus Tox is the eczema in children affecting their scalp. However, it must be remembered that the body may react to Rhus Tox violently. Once it gets better, then Rhus Tox may be repeated in a few days.
If the eczema does not respond, then some other homoeopathic remedy should be sought. This is not an ea sy task. Such a condition may in fact be cancer of the skin, which should be treated with Carcinocin 1000 and Radium Bromatum 1000, once a week for one to two months. Similarly, Graphites and Psorinum given alternately may prove very useful in the treatme nt of resistant forms of eczema. Rhus Tox is also very useful in the treatment of eye infections i.e. redness with the discharge of pus (p ink eyes) especially in the humid weather. The pain gets worse on moving the eye or by pressure. Warm tears flow out of the eyes.
