Can homeopathic medicine cure problems which are strictly mechanical, for example, pain caused by a relatively hard part of the body (bone, cartilage) pressing on a softer part (nerve)? Yes, it can. Compression of the sciatic nerve can cause such a pain and the correct homeopathic medicine can remedy it as the case below shows.
Sciatica is a common back problem with one to five people suffering from it at some point in their lives. The sciatic nerves, one on each side, come off the spinal cord in the low back and travel through the buttocks and down the lower extremities. When compressed, irritation ensues and then pain which can be severe. The pain often extends from the low back down to the feet. Numbness and tingling may or may not accompany it. Though most cases of sciatica resolve on their own within four weeks, a substantial number do not. It is thought the main cause of sciatic is a protrusion of a lower lumbar disc pressing on one or the other of the sciatic nerves. Sciatica is invariably one-sided. An uncommon cause of sciatica is stenosis or narrowing of the spinal canal. Also uncommon is when the sciatic nerve runs through the piriformis muscle rather than beneath it. It is presumed the piriformis spasms or tightens around the sciatic nerve causing pain. The most common cause of sciatica, however, is protrusion or herniation of a lumbar disk causing compression on and pain in the sciatic nerve. When the disc protrusion becomes extreme, surgery may be necessary.
Chiropractic manipulation can shorten the course of sciatica as can various physiotherapy techniques. Both approaches rely on mechanical movement to counter the compression on the sciatic nerve. Homeopathy does not. The homeopathic medicine, as discussed in Chapter 4, is highly diluted and succussed. Each medicine has a different energetic configuration depending on the substance from which it was derived. As mentioned before, these medicines act on the Vital Force putting it into a state of harmonious balance. Thus, the newly invigorated Vital Force acts on the physiological and biochemical substrates which in turn heal the disorder.
Maricela, a sixty-five year old woman, had been suffering from right-sided sciatic pain since July, 1996. The pain travelled from the low back down the back of the thigh to the ankle. She could only fall asleep on her left side and if she turned on to the right, the pain woke her. The pain was worse lifting a moderately heavy suitcase, worse sneezing and worse straining at stool. Her symptoms corresponded to Tellurium an element on the periodic table. In its homeopathic form Tellurium is known to cure sciatica on the right side which is worse from coughing and straining.
In July, 1997, she was given a single dose and improved dramatically within days. Seven months later, she relapsed. She noted she had to sleep in a semi-reclined position, otherwise, on waking and rising from bed she experienced a sharp, sudden pain beginning in the low back and extending down the right leg. As before, the pain was worse from coughing, sneezing and pressing at stool. She also mentioned she liked apples. All her symptoms again fit Tellurium including the love of apples. Two days after another dose, she was able to sleep flat and rise from bed without pain. At one month, she was seventy-five percent better. She went on to a full recovery. Again in 2012 she had a recurrence of the right-sided sciatic pain and again Tellurium put her right within days.
Tellurium is one of the lesser used homeopathic medicines and has won most of its laurels in the treatment of sciatic nerve pain. As always in homeopathy, Tellurium will not cure all or even most sciatic nerve pains. The homeopath must inquire into all aspects of the pain and the person.
In the case of Maricela, Tellurium acted so swiftly and her improvement was so dramatic that when she came to me in February, 1998, for allergies and loss of voice, I thought I’d give Tellurium a try even though it is not well-known in that area. Again, it acted with the allergies ceasing with a few days.
The conclusion I drew from treating both Maricela’s right-sided sciatica and her allergies was that Tellurium was probably her constitutional medicine, that is, a medicine that corresponds so well to the person that it will alleviate or cure most medical problems that the person has or will have.
Homeopathy–it often acts globally helping all aspects of the person.