In this way, the cure of very old disease may be furthered by the physician applying externally, rubbing it in the back, arms, extremities, the same medicine he gives internally and which showed itself curatively. In doing so, he must avoid parts subject to pain or spasm or skin eruption.(1)
FN
(1) From this fact may be explained those marvellous cures, however infrequent, where chronic deformed patients, whose skin nevertheless was sound and clean, were cured quickly and permanently after a few baths whose medicinal constituents (by, chance) were homoeopathically related. On the other hand, the mineral baths very often brought on increased injury with patients, whose eruptions on the skin were suppressed. After a brief period of well-being, the life principle allowed the inner, uncured malady to appear elsewhere, more important for life and health.
At times, instead, the ocular nerve would become paralyzed and produce amaurosis, sometimes the crystalline lens would become clouded, hearing lost, mania or suffocating asthma would follow or an apoplexy would end the sufferings of the deluded patient.
A fundamental principle of the homoeopathic physician (which distinguishes him from every physician of all older schools) is this, that he never employs for any patient a medicine, whose effects on the healthy human has not previously been carefully proven and thus made known to him (§§ 20,21). To prescribe for the sick on mere conjecture of some possible usefulness for some similar disease or from hearsay that a remedy has helped in such and such a disease - such conscienceless venture the philanthropic homoeopathist will leave to the allopath. A genuine physician and practitioner or our art will therefore never send the sick to any of the numerous mineral baths, because almost all are unknown so far as their accurate, positive effects on the healthy human organism is concerned, and when misused, must be counted among the most violent and dangerous drugs. In this way, out of a thousand sent to the most celebrated of these baths by ignorant physicians allopathically uncured and blindly sent there perhaps one or two are cured by chance more often return only apparently cured and the miracle is proclaimed aloud. Hundreds, meanwhile sneak quietly away, more or less worse and the rest remain to prepare themselves for their eternal resting place, a fact that is verified by the presence of numerous well-filled graveyards surrounding the most celebrated of these spas.*
* A true homoeopathic physician, one who never acts without correct fundamental principles, never gambles with the life of the sick entrusted to him as in a lottery where the winner is in the ratio of 1 to 500 or 1000 (blanks here consisting of aggravation or death), will never expose any one of his patients to such danger and send him for good luck to a mineral bath, as is done so frequently by allopaths in order to get rid of the sick in an acceptable manner spoiled by him or others.
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SUMMARY
The Role of External Application in Homoeopathic Treatment
External Application of Medicine:
- Physicians can enhance the treatment of chronic diseases by applying the same medicine externally as given internally.
- Care must be taken to avoid areas with pain, spasms, or skin eruptions during application.
Remarkable Cures:
- There are rare cases where chronic patients with healthy skin have experienced rapid and lasting cures through homoeopathically related medicinal baths.
- However, mineral baths can often lead to worsening conditions in patients with suppressed skin eruptions, potentially causing severe complications such as paralysis, amaurosis, or other serious health issues.
Fundamental Principles of Homoeopathy
Evidence-Based Medicine:
- Homoeopathic physicians prioritize the use of medicines that have been thoroughly tested for their effects on healthy individuals.
- Prescribing based on conjecture or hearsay is discouraged and viewed as irresponsible.
Skepticism of Mineral Baths:
- Many mineral baths lack well-documented effects on healthy people, making them potentially dangerous and unpredictable.
- A genuine homoeopathic physician avoids recommending such treatments, as they often result in exacerbation of conditions or even death.
Critique of Allopathic Practices:
- The text critiques allopathic physicians for sending patients to mineral baths without sufficient knowledge, often leading to more harm than good.
- It highlights the risk of misadventure in treatments that lack scientific grounding, equating this to a lottery with a very low chance of positive outcomes.
