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By Hans Weitbrecht
A lot of patients arrive with lower back pain. They talk about slipped discs
or cricks and are obviously in great agony.
The most common features are:
- Area: lower back,
- Cause: over lifting,
getting cold or draft,
- Pain: dull, boring (as
if someone would drill there with a big electric drill), darting from
outside in (stabbing with a knife).
- The pains are worse
from:
- Getting up from a seat,
- stepping hard,
- or keeping quiet in one
position.
- External heat and
continued motion make it better.
- Usually they have no
great change in the mental sphere.
Going on the above Rhus-t comes to mind, and indeed a quick look into
the materia media confirms its suitability. Except for the boring and the
darting character, all the features are well represented.
The boring and stinging character are more prominent in Calc-c and
Caust, which in turn have improvement by external heat and by continued
motion to a lesser degree.
Should the whole episode have started after sweating, Calc-c, Merc, Ph-ac,
Sep, and Puls, Staph, Sulph to a lesser degree come to mind.
Phos-ac would be your choice, if the pain came from over lifting, and is
worse from raising, rest, and open air, and of a burning character.
Phos-ac shares the overall weakness with Caust.
Sep in return is better from rest, cold air, and the pain is boring,
burning up the spine, and as if beaten.
Merc will be recognized by its sensitivity to atmospheric changes (human
barometer), boring, bruised pain, and the nightly aggravation.
Calc-c reacts to the combination: dampness and exertion. Calc-c
never did much for me in the acute phase.
Puls has boring, piercing pains, which seems to change about quickly. I
did not find the weepiness. The patients were rather cross, stubborn and
temperamental. Continued motion and bending forward improve and likewise
external heat.
Yet another back remedy is Arn. The darting inwards and bruised character
of the pains and restlessness in the part affected to the extend that the
patient can’t sit still, point to the remedy. The Arn-symptom ‘Bed feels
too hard’ comes from the general oversensitive state. Even the slightest touch
is experienced by the patient as a severe pain.
Another remedy that fits well is: Lyc. The pains are boring, worse from
getting up from a seat and worse from rest. Improved by continued motion and in
the open air the patient is actually very sensitive to the open air.
Now a few remedies used to a lesser degree:
Bry is recognized by the keynote: ‘worse from every motion’ has so
far failed to improve, when prescribed on this symptom. Stiffness, darts and
bruised pain might point to it, also the slow onset of the episode.
Nux-v and Cham share the unbearability of the pain and demand
instant relief. Lachesis comes to mind when the spinal cord is severely
affected maybe by infection or injury. There are darts up and down the spine, a
pulling inside the spine as if the nerves were too short, and a marked weakness.
Phos would be resorted to when the following features are present: pain
as if broken, periodicity, burning up the spine, worse weather changes, worse
getting up from a seat. Sitting up and rubbing the affected area helps.
Acon is characterized by the quick onset brought on by cold dry air.
Bell feels as if the back is broken. The pains are sharp, cutting,
acute,and severe. They come and go fast, and the patient is very restless. A
draft to the head or back started the episode.
Sil comes into effect after the use of the more acute remedies. The
sensitivity to cold changes and the overall picture would point to it.
Other remedies useful in the area are: Sulph, Staph, Thuj,
Nat-m, Kali-c, Canth, Bar-c, Ars. Those have back pain in addition to other
complaints.
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