Dr Rahees K Kokkallur
Winter is the season for penance, love and emotions. Christians will start their penance on December 1st and will continue it up to 25th of December. Hindu community started it little earlier and will continue for 41 days. Winter arouse eternal love in in the hearts of lovers as snow is showering to the dry and warm minds of lovers. Looking at the snowing night itself make transform lovers to poets.
Dryness and snow affect both mind and body of people as it is season of shortest days and longest night. When winter touches the heart of people it touches the skin of Psoric patients too. Whether it touches the heart or skin first depends up on the Psoric nature of patients. The main skin problems are cracks and dry skin which appear in the beginning of winter. Another annoyance is the chilblains and winter aggravation of psoriatic complaints.
Dry skin and skin cracks
The dry skin problems in winter are due to relative humidity which dries out our skin. The one solution is moisturizing the skin. In winter we can advise patients with dry skin to use glycerine based soaps because other type soaps make the skin drier. Dry skin appear by fine lines in the skin become more visible, the skin feels rough and appears dull and flaky. In more advanced cases, fish net-like cracks resembling the fine fracture lines of cracked porcelain can occur. Dry skin occurs most commonly on the arms and legs, but can also affect the trunk of the body, often call dry skin “xerosis” or “asteatosis”.
Dry skin very commonly produces itching, which can be severe and interfere with sleep and other daily activities. Repeated rubbing and scratching can produce areas of thickened, rough skin (lichenification). Dry, thickened skin can crack, especially in areas subject to chronic trauma (e.g., hands and feet), causing painful cracks in the skin (fissures). Dry skin and scratching may result in dermatitis when the skin becomes red (inflamed) in addition to dry and scaly. Round, scaly, itchy, red patches scattered over the legs, arms and trunk (nummular eczema) may also appear. The appearance of yellow crusts or pus in these areas indicates that a bacterial infection is developing. A deep crack on skin indicates syphilitic miasm. If it gets aggravated in winter it further indicates existence of psoric miasm. An anti-tubercular remedy will be effective in deep cracks during winter. Bacillinum is one among them. When the cracks became deep and it bleeds, it should be treated with anti-syphilitic remedies. Before Syphillinum one should think about Sarasaparilla as it won’t make any aggravation in skin complaints.
Also called as perniosis. Chilblains are acral ulcers often confused with frostbite and trench foot. This occurs when the predisposed individual exposed to cold and humidity. The difficulties during chilblain are due to damage of capillary bed of skin due to exposure of cold, this produce redness, itching, blisters and inflammation. It may also come as idiopathic origin so thorough investigation is necessary.
Bach Flower Remedy Bacillus Gaertner will help in chilblains of hands in winter. Petrolum, Pulsatilla and Agaricus will give relief to chilblains in winter. Tiny vesicular eruptions on sides of hand and feet that peel of later shall be taken as chilblains in Kerala. Agaricus gives nice result in such cases.
Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease that appears on the skin. The autoimmunity arises in body against skin cells. In psoriasis there is exacerbation and remission present. The exacerbation of symptoms will occur when a stimulus got. In winter season the cold may cause exacerbation. As it is an autoimmune disease it should be treated very carefully. As it is autoimmune animal remedies found to be very effective. If a psoriasis get aggravated in winter one shall expect a complete cure as it is having a psoric nature. Usually as an auto immune or syco somatic disorder Psoriasis needs either an animal remedy or a nosode or atleast a syco-syphilitic remedy. But Psoriasis get aggravated during winter shall either treat with an anti psoric remedy or an anti-tubercular remedy. In syco somatic disorder one shall think of anti sycotic remedies from plant kingdom like, STAPHISAGRIA in high potency.
General Therapeutics of skin in winter:
When we are considering our therapeutics, we can look on these rubrics which are specific for skin affection during winter.
Types, locality & Accompanying symptoms will decide medicine in exacerbation of skin disease in winter. A homoeopath who wants to prevent winter aggravation shall concentrate on winter remedies with special affinity to skin and the associated symptoms. One should focus on winter medicines and Psoric miasm in treating skin disease of winter.
- Eruption around toes in winter – Psor
- Eruptions in Joints in winter – Merc Phos Psor. Rhus-t
- Scaly Eruptions on Hand in winter — Petr. Sep
- Eruptions around finger nails in winter— psor
- Cracked hand- Graph, maland, Merc ,PETR ,SEP, SULPH
- CRACKED Fingers in winter – Petr
- CHILBLAINS on Hands in winter – Gaert
- Tubercles on skin in winter— Kali-br
- Eczema in winter – Petr
- CRACKS on skin in winter – Calc-s, CARBN-S, , Graph, merc, PETR, Psor, sanic, SEP.,
- FELON in every winter – HEP,
- ULCERS in winter – Petr,
- General < winter – Alum, graph., petr, psor,
- ROUGH skin in winter – Alumn,
- ITCHING of skin from exposure to sun of winter— glycyr-g,
- PLATINA is the medicine for those who follow penance in its strict way and take it as a passion in winter.
Winter is the time for observing miasm in psoric prominent personalities. A Homoeopath can observe it on the skin of a psoric patient. Though other miasms shall co-exist in an otherwise psoric patient, psora will emerge in winter. So winter is the right time to observe psora in patients who presented clinically in combination with other miasms. Skin is the best organ to observe psora as it is the largest and most visible organ of the body. If a patient is having winter aggravation of skin disease, take it as a positive sign because cure rate is more in psoric patients.
All eczema or psoriasis is not getting aggravated in winter. Only psoric Psoriasis and eczema are getting worse in winter. Remember Psoriasis is not a psoric miasmatic disorder it is the marriage of all miasm. Don’t forget that all eczemas are not psoric and most of them are syphilitic and some of them are sycotic too. Whether a disease is psoric, sycotic or syphilitic is not a question in winter. Is it aggravates or appeared only in winter is an important matter to be considered in winter to select an anti psoric remedy and to assure your patient about the persistence of a simple miasm in him.
Dr. Rahees K Kokkallur
MINHANS (Malabar Institute for Nurture Health by Homeopathy And Natural Science)