A young woman whom I had treated for several years with homeopathy for recurrent sore throats and a weak constitution was distraught because she had been exposed by her previous boyfriend to genital warts. She was upset for multiple reasons: 1] the feeling that her previous boyfriend had betrayed her by not telling her he had the condition; 2] the guilt she felt for exposing her current boyfriend to the condition, as he was also beginning to showing symptoms; 3] she wanted to be a mother one day and was frightened at the prospect of passing this genetic taint onto her children and causing them health problems; 4] her mother was putting pressure on her to have the warts burned off [cauterisation], believing that this was the only effective way to getting rid of the problem; and, 5] the shame she felt about the condition and not wanting it exposed.
By the time this young woman, whom I will call Sally, consulted me about the new problem, she had already begun the painful procedure of having the warts burned off. Homeopathic theory suggests that this is not the best treatment for warts, because it does not address the condition underlying their appearance, but only takes away the surface manifestation. The inner disease could now continue to develop at a potentially quicker rate, because there would now be no outward evidence of its presence, and no way to monitor its progress, what with the external eruption being interfered with. In homeopathic parlance, the primary state of the disease, or the warts, was being suppressed, while the inner disease, or secondary state, was left on its own to continue to develop unmonitored.
Sally and her mother did not understand that taking away the warts through external measures was not ‘curing’ the disease, nor was it limiting the contagious nature of the condition. If the warts were left alone and not interfered with by suppressive measures, Sally could pass the warts — or, the primary state of the disease — onto her sexual partners. On the other hand, if the warts were removed by external means, then Sally could pass the disease onto her partners in its deeper form, and they could then potentially develop symptoms characteristic of the sycotic, or gonorrhoea, miasm [a toxic, or noxious, influence on the body, producing illness]. Offspring would also most likely display symptoms of this miasm.
In order to help Sally I had to educate her about the homeopathic approach to the treatment of genital warts, and also take her case. This meant reviewing her symptoms carefully in order to find a remedy that addressed not just this disease, but who she was as a person.
In homeopathy, we do not treat individuals, or patients, based on just the diagnosis they are given, but on their whole symptom-picture, discovered after taking the thorough homeopathic case. The genital warts will be one of many symptoms that need to be considered in selecting the most appropriate homeopathic remedy for the young girl.
I have already described some of Sally’s emotional symptoms, namely anger at her previous boyfriend for lying to her about the state of his health, concern about her relationship with her current boyfriend, fear of having babies because of the sexually transmitted disease [STD], and shame that her condition had been exposed.
Some of the symptoms, or characteristics, that helped me find the homeopathic remedy that helped Sally get rid of the warts were:
- Eating meals at irregular times and skipping meals
- A craving for oranges and other citrus fruits
- A craving for fruit juices
- Hot feet in bed at night and a tendency to uncover them
- High evening energy and frequently sleeping late at night
- Addiction to marijuana.
Sally had taken a dose of the homeopathic remedy, Thuja occidentalis, on her own prior to seeing me. Thuja is a well-known remedy in homeopathy that can help with warts, and is one of twelve remedies listed in Dr. Robin Murphy’s Homeopathic Medical Repertory for genital warts, but this remedy did not help her.
The remedy I prescribed Sally was Medorrhinum in high potency. It worked so quickly that I was astonished at the speed at which the warts disappeared.
The sequence of events was: a month into the treatment a lot more warts erupted, some of the ones that were there got bigger; another eight went away. About 2-3 weeks later, all of these warts disappeared. The last remaining wart was one that had been burned off, which reappeared in the same spot after the homeopathic remedy, was now on its way out.
The improvement in her health went far beyond the disappearance of the warts. Her energy level improved significantly and she was feeling healthy and overjoyed at the disappearance of the warts.
Circumstances in her life also started to improve. She found a job and with it many of her financial fears resolved. She had been unhappy with where she and her boyfriend were living, and now they found a house in an area they loved.
She had convinced her boyfriend to seek homeopathic treatment, so that both of them could start their new life together on a healthier footing. She also resolved to give up marijuana and was following through on this. To state the obvious, Sally was no longer the distraught young woman I had seen a few months earlier. The problems she sought homeopathic treatment for had resolved, and she felt much stronger and more confident with and in herself.
