{"id":18183,"remedy_name":"Zinc Metallicum (HMT)","remedy_type":"Remedy","alternative_names":["Zinc"],"miasm":"Tubercular Miasm","temperament":"Neutral","aggravation_time":"Neutral\/Anytime","keynote_indications":"Zincum Metallicum 675\nZINCUM METALLICUM\n\nZinc is a very important neurotropic remedy (i.e. the one that works\non the nervous system).  It seems to be the best remedy for patients\nwho have become mentally exhausted due to chronic illnesses, and\nwhose body has been rendered incapable of reacting to bring diseases\nout to the surface.\n\nDuring an epidemic of infectious diseases like measles and smallpox,\nthe appearance of skin signs, such as  rashes, helps the diagnosis.  In a\npatient of Zinc, these signs fail to  appear on the skin, although the\ndisease process has already aff licted the body internally.  The\nhomoeopathic form of Zinc helps to project these diagnostic skin\nsigns.\n\nDuring paralytic conditions of chronic and resistant nature, when the\npatient is treated with Zinc, it will set up a state of neurological\nprovocation and reaction showing that the body is being prepared for a\ndefensive stance.  Zinc helps to express the suppressed symptoms and\nsigns of diseases, infectious as well as neurological.  This reaction is\nabsolutely necessary to save the patient\u2019s life but may be extremely\ndisturbing to him.  In case Zinc needs to be administered to provoke\nthe mind and body reactions, the patient must be warned\nbeforehand.\nDr. Kent has devised a humorous story about Zi nc.  He has suggested\nthat a homoeopathic doctor shoul d visit a Zinc patient who has\nparalysis, very fast on horseback and then also return equally as fast\nafter giving him the treatment.  The reason for this is that since Zinc\nprovokes an immediate brisk tingli ng response so swiftly that the\nrelatives of the patient might thi nk that the doctor has poisoned the\npatient and rush to attack the docto r.  After this abrupt tingling, the\nnerves begin to recover and the paralysis disappears.  Then the\nrelatives will run to thank the docto r.  I have also  Zinc on such\npatients.  The patients did evidently show a brisk response though not\nof the severity described by Dr. Kent . As a matter of principle, I warn\nmy patients that the se vere nervous response\nis the first sign of the\ncure to follow.\n\nZincum Metallicum 676\nAnother characteristic sign of Zinc is the fidgeting of feet.  Women\nusually keep their feet exposed out  of the bedding and keep rubbing\nthem against each other.  Some patients may continually shake their\nlegs.  Any person exhibiting this si gn and then falling sick must be\ntreated with Zinc.  Once the constitution of the patient is recognised to\nbe that of Zinc, all his illnesses will respond to Zinc.\n\nNux Vomica, being completely op posite to Zinc, should never be\ngiven with it even though both have  similar effects regarding the\ntreatment of nervous tension  In homoeopathy, two remedies of a\nsimilar nature may sometimes annul each other, or being incompatible\nmay result in a severe b odily reaction.  In case a patient needs to be\ntreated with Zinc but  has already been given Nux Vomica, then\nCamphor or Sulphur must be administ ered to neutraliz e the effects of\nNux Vomica before he is given Zinc.\n\nThe late onset of menses  and scanty menses are suggestive of Zinc.\nUnless they are treated with Zinc, some young girls may be\npredisposed to certain uterine and nervous conditions for life.\n\nZinc poisoning slows down the digestive system.  Food gets digested\nextremely slowly.  The appetite vani shes.  Food rots in the stomach.\nVomiting sets in due to acidity.  The patient becomes constipated.\nEven the bladder function becomes slowed down.  Bowel and urinary\nsymptoms coexist.  In contrast, Mercury produces its symptoms by\nway of irritation and in tensity.  There is a bu rning sensation during\nurination and after.  Similarly, in  dysentery, the patient keeps on\nfeeling the gripes and tenesmus, ev en after having passed the stools.\nThe Zinc patient has to sit down wh ile passing urine; he cannot pass\nurine while standing.  On the contra ry, a Causticum patient can pass\nurine only while standing, whereas by sitting, the urination either\nstops or becomes obstructed.  Some of the patients have to be pulled\nbackwards so that they may begin to pass urine.\n\nThe face of a typical Zinc patient is  pale and wrinkled.  He always\nfeels cold.  Prior to the affliction of his mind and loss of memory, the\npatient first repeats the question and before answering.  A slight\nsudden noise makes his body tremble.  When a Zinc patient develops\nparalysis, he starts to look premat urely old.  However a Zinc patient\ndoes not exhibit these signs in his youth whereas in Sarsaparilla and\nZincum Metallicum 677\nAgaricus, a patient appears to be old at a very young age.  In\nSarsaparilla, even children look old.\n\nSome of the Zinc patients, like those in Apis, may scream during sleep\ndue to the excitability of nerve fibres in the brain.  Symptoms of Apis\nare easily identifiable.  In thei r absence, Zinc should be started\nwithout any hesitation.  Once again, the relatives of the patient must\nbe clearly warned that the tendency to scream may become aggravated\nbefore it gets better, slowly but surely.\n\nThe symptoms of Zinc include pr ofuse sweating, severe nausea and\nvomiting.  The heart sinks.  All thes e symptoms do not manifest at the\nsame time.  Sometimes, it is the gastric symptoms, which appear first,\nwhile at other times the limbs or the heart become affected first.  If the\nprogressive slowing of the intestinal  activity is suspected on the basis\nof a change of bowel habits, Zinc mu st be started without hesitation.\nIf the diagnosis has been correc t, then the condition may be\ncompletely cured.  Sometimes such a patient starts vomiting as a\nreaction to Zinc.  This is a good sign  indicating that Zi nc has reverted\nthe slowly progressive intestinal paralysis (ileus).  Initial severe\nreaction to Zinc therapy is tempor ary, but must occur, before the\nrestoration of health.  However, se vere reactions may also be noted\nduring the treatment from the improper homoeopathic remedy or\npotency, with serious consequences.  In homoeopathy, every untoward\nserious reaction should not be cons idered a prelude to a successful\noutcome because the condition may sometimes keep becoming serious\nwith no sign of improvement.\n\nZinc is also useful in the treatment of spinal meningitis.  If remedies\nlike Bryonia, Belladonna and Gelsemium etc., stop working, then Zinc\nwill prove to be very beneficial.  Zinc has also proved successful in\nthe treatment of tubercular meningitis .  During an epidemic of\nmeningitis, Zinc 200 taken once or tw ice a week, proves to be a very\ngood preventive measure.\n\nZinc is also very useful in the treatment of many eye diseases  such\nas progressive swelling and heavine ss of the eyelids, chronic redness\nof the eyes associated with the di mness of the vision and the affliction\nof the optic nerve (optic neuritis) .  Zincum Sulph is an excellent\ntreatment for cataract.  I once treated one ni nety-year-old man with\nfairly advanced cataract.  The surg eon had refused to perform surgery\nZincum Metallicum 678\non him due to his age.  I gave him one dose of Zincum Sulph CM.\nSurprisingly, within a few months , his cataract had disappeared\ncompletely.  He lived many more y ears afterwards without recurrence\nof the cataract.  Zinc is the best homoeopathic remedy in the\nprevention of cataract due to degenerative materials being deposited in\nthe eye lens.  However, once the cataract process is well-advanced, it\nshould be treated by surgery.  If Zinc is administered while the\ncataract is half-way towards matur ity, it will neither disappear nor\nmature for surgery.  Patients at this stage should be left alone, so that\ntheir cataract may mature and be treated with surgery.\n\nThe combination of Calcarea Fluor 6X with Zinc proves much more\nbeneficial.  Eye drops of Cinera ria Maritima Sussex are also very\nuseful.  A drop in each eye, three times a day, helps resolve the\ncataract quite fast.  In general, Zi nc Sulph 200 is used once or twice a\nweek.  If given in CM potency, it should not be repeated before one\nmonth and stopped after one repeat.\n\nZinc 200 is very useful in abating the formation of the whitish\nmembrane appearing inside the ey e.  In the eyelids, sometimes\neyelashes start growing inwards (Trichiasis)  and prove quite\ntroublesome. Usually this is treated surgically.  But after an operation,\nanother hair can still grow inwards and this may continue to happen.\nIts permanent cure is Zincum Sulp h.  I have found it very useful in\nPotency 200. Zinc also cures Pterygium obviating any need for\nsurgery.\n\nWhen dizzy, a Zinc patient always thinks that he will fall on the left\nside.  Tossing the head around and sinking it into the pillow is also a\nsymptom of Zinc.  Zinc is also considered to be useful in the treatment\nof involuntary movements and tremors of the head and hands (senile\ntremors).\n\nLike Kali Bichrome, a Zinc patient f eels pressure and pain at the root\nof the nose.  The gums start receding from the teeth in zincum.\nPressure on the gums relieves the discomfort.  Children with weak\nnerves cut their teeth with difficulty .  They keep on shaking their feet\nor rub them against each other due to restlessness.  During\nswallowing, the muscles of the throat hurt.  The stomach burns on\neating sweet things.  Besides this, the patient has a tendency of\nnausea, vomiting and hiccups.  A Zinc  patient has the habit of eating\nZincum Metallicum 679\nin a rush, indicating impatience.  The stomach feels distended with\ngas.\n\nThe patient has pain in the lower part of the back, intolerant to local\npressure.  Reproductive organs also become affected in men as well as\nin women.  The testicles feel drawn upwards.  Women become\nsexually overexcited and the breas ts feel swollen and congested.\nMenstrual flow increases at night .  All these symptoms aggravate\nduring their periods.\n\nZincum Met is also useful in Va ricose veins and Chilblains i.e.\nredness and swelling of toes due to extreme cold which may result in\nfrostbite and loss of toes.  This can happen to mountaineers who walk\ncontinuously on snow in severe cold weather.\n\nREPERTORY\n\nAND COMMON\nDAILY ILLNESSES\nAND THEIR TREATMENT","modalities":"","symptoms_by_system":[],"schema_version":"1.0","api_provider":"Allahshafi"}