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Local diseases are one-sided diseases, where changes and ailments appear on the external parts of the body. Local maladies are not purely local in nature but the rest of the body also participates in the development of the disease process. All parts of the organism are interdependent; no symptom will develop exclusively independently. Some disturbance in one part may generate changes in the other parts of the body also. In each and every disease the entire organism reacts as a whole. So the local diseases are not truly local.
Types of Local Disease / Maladies
These can be grouped into two types: 1. Local Disease /maladies because of an external cause 2. Local Disease /maladies because of internal cause
1. Local Disease /maladies because of external cause
There are some local maladies that, in their first context itself appear to be local. Example: In cases of mild skin injuries, it remains purely local. Owing to the mildness of the symptoms, the vital force can aid it without any medicinal help. On the contrary, if the local maladies are because of severe types of external injuries, a revolution takes place in the entire organism. The whole organism reacts and there appears a protective general response like fever, malaise, etc.
If the injury of the external cause is of a severe type, even surgical aid may be needed.
Example: i. Reducing the dislocation in some joint areas.
ii. In deep cut wounds the suturing and proper dressing.
iii. In the case of cut arteries the mechanical pressure and bandaging to stop the hemorrhage.
iv. In case of occlusion of foreign bodies in some soft parts of the body, removal by surgical means.
v. In case of fractured bones, appropriation, and the proper bandage is needed, etc.
In such cases, also along with the mechanical and surgical aid, proper homeopathic dynamic medicines have to be given to assist the vital force in recovery. It is a common example that a patient with severe contusions, lacerated muscles will develop a fever. This type of fever has to be smoothened by the use of dynamic homeopathic remedies. In case of scalds and burns along with the local cleanliness and hygiene, internal dynamic medicines can be administered to prevent shock.
2. Local Disease /maladies because of internal cause
This is the second group of local maladies where the physician cannot notice any type of external cause like injury or accident. Here, the cause is purely internal and dynamic. Example: eruptions on the lip and whitlow, etc. Such local diseases where the external cause could not be traced out must be treated with internal remedies to achieve a judicious, sure, efficient and radical cure.
i. A suitable homeopathic medicine in such cases, will not only cure the local maladies but also improve the general health of the patient.
ii. For the selection of such remedy, inquiry of exact character of the local affection and thorough investigation of patient’s disposition must be enquired, like in any other dynamic chronic disease.
iii. Based on the totality of symptoms when the selected dynamic medicine is administered, it will radically cure the local malady as well as improve the general condition of the patient.
iv. In local maladies of the second variety, it is not at all advisable to use any kind of external applications. Even the internally administered similimum remedy cannot be applied externally. Only the internal use of dynamic homeopathic remedies alone is sufficient to bring about the cure. If such a cure is not brought out, then psora has to be considered as the cause.
v. In local maladies of psoric origin, the anti-psoric treatment is the only solution. Administration of such anti-psoric medicines has to be done in succession i.e. each medicine has to be administered after one has completed its action.
vi. The external applications are not allowed not only in psoric cases but also in syphilitic as well as sycotic types. This is because if a local application is given the chief presenting complaint will disappear, leaving the internally present miasmatic disease uncured. So judicious and ideal cure is not possible.
External Application in Local Disease
The allopathic physicians consider local maladies as purely local problems. They try to destroy the local symptoms by means of corrosive or desiccative external applications. Such a procedure removes the local symptoms but makes the infection worse. This is because, with the removal of external symptoms alone, the chief complaint has been removed.
When the external complaint is removed, identification of the internal suffering becomes very difficult. In cases where the external complaints are removed by the ointments, it becomes difficult to decide whether the cure has taken place or not, as the external visible complaint has been robbed of by the external applications. The vital force produces local symptoms in order to sooth the internally well-developed miasmatic disease.
As long as the local symptoms are present on the skin the inner parts of the body are safer but the vital force is not capable of curing itself of the miasmatic disease without the help of homeopathic remedies. As a result, the disease progresses internally. The old school physicians (of Hahnemannian days), by their cruel methods like issues and setons, tried to keep on draining the material discharges from the external ailments. They do this in the name of the following nature. They always believed in the materia peccans. But such practice will never cure the disease.
On the contrary, prolonged use of violent procedures like issues and setons will make the patient weaker and weaker. When the old school physician tries to destroy the local symptom by violent procedures, nature tries to increase the internal disease. Procedures like applying ointments on the psoric eruption, burning off the chancres by caustics, destroying the condylomata with the knife, ligatures and cautery will invariably increase the internal miasmatic diseases. These procedures can be termed as the main sources of an innumerable number of named and unnamed chronic diseases of today.
Also read: What is Prima Causa Morbi (Homeopathy)?
