Bleeding from internal
parts.
By Henry Newell Guernsey, M. D.
Presented by Sylvain Cazalet
Dr H. N. Guernsey
Editor’s introduction
:This essay on bleeding by this great
teacher of the “keynote” system is the best essay in the
literature on this topic that I have come across.
This is worth preserving, and adding some more remedies, to be referred
to in emergencies.
Those remedies which
are most highly characterized by BLEEDING FROM
INTERNAL PARTS are : Acon., Am., Bell., Caic. c., Carb.
veg., Canth., Cham., Chin., Croc., Ferrum, Hyos., Ipec., Kali c., Lach.,
Merc., Nitr. ac., Nux v., Phos., Plat., Puls., Sabina, Secale, Sepia,
Sulphur.As we may at any time
be suddenly called upon to prescribe almost instantly for a dangerous
haemorrhage, I will give the strongest points of each drug first that
would facilitate our choice.
ACONITE.
When we find with the hemorrhage an apparent mental
excitement, accompanied by a fear of death (perhaps the fear of bleeding
to death), we may find on investigation that the haemorrhage was brought
on by a fright, by a fit of anger, or by anxiety; the patient may still
be suffering from the exciting cause. The sufferer is usually lying on
the back, owing to an aggravation froin lying on either side; worse on
rising (becomes dizzy); blood coagulates easily; afraid to move about
much, though feeling restless and anxious; thirsty, skin dry. Most
generally found in dark-haired subjects, plethoric and active.ARNICA.
Here the bleeding has been excited from an injury;
from concussion; bodily fatigue; physical exertion. We often find a
bruised or sore sensation in the parts from which the blood exudes.
Pulmonic or uterine haemorrhages and epistaxis, etc., are often attended
with this sensation.Hot head and a cool
body are very characteristic of this remedy~Sometimes a fright and
an injury may be nearly coincident, and here great care must be observed
to decide which was really the exciting cause; should fright have caused
the bleeding, Arnica will not be the remedy.The difference between
Aconite and Arnica may be seen at a glance.BELLADONNA.
The blood coagu lates almost as soon as discharged
and feels hot to the parts from which it escapes. If it be from the
genital organs, they are usually forcing or bearing down pains: if from
the chest or head, there is congestion, throbbing of the carotids1
injected eyes, flushed face. The patient wishes to be covered; cool air
is unpleasant; cold shiverings frequently run through the body;
photophobia; drinks little often; hot skin, plethoric habit.Patient generally feels
worse in the afternoon and evening; from draft of air; from rising; from
suppressed perspiration.Here, too, we see that
Belladonna differs very essentially from either of the preceding drugs.CALC. C.
Here the most striking feature is the cosntitutiQn of
the patient. This is leucophiegmatic; light hair. A’ little
investigation may show that the menses are apt to be too profuse and t6o
often; much perspiration about the head and shoulders; limbs are usually
drawn up, and are cold and damp; desire for loosened I garments;
amelioration from being rubbed; desire for warmth and covering; a slight
draft of cool air is chilling; if the bleeding be from the chest, it is
usually from the left side. CaIc. c. cannot be mistaken for or
confounded with either of the above remedies.CANTH.
A most striking symptom calling for the use of this
remedy is found in the urinary organs, and consists of a cutting and
burning pain during micturition; the urine flows in drops, or in a very
scanty stream. Haematuria; uterine haemorrhage, blood usualy being very
dark; haemorrhage from the lungs or nose.CARB. VEG.
We are chiefly led to the use of this remedy in very
desperate cases, where there is almost an entire state of collapse; weak
pulse; anguish of heart; skin cold and bluish; patient wants to be
fanned very hard; and often whispers at the attendants, “Fan
harder, fan me harder”.This desire to be
“fanned hard” is found in many different complaints, and may
always be considered as indicative of this drug. We may sometimes be
called in very late to such cases, or we may get them from the old
practice.CHAM.
The striking
peculiarity here is mental irritability of a spiteful nature; the
patient speaks quickly and sharply. Blood dark and coagulated; desire
for air; restless; distressed.Patient generally feels
worse at night; from warmth; from anger; during eructations; lying on
painless side; during perspiration; during sleep; from coffee. Better
while fasting; while lying on painful side.CHINA.
The first note of alarm
here is faintness, with ringing in the ears; ringing in the ears is one
of the most characteristic symptoms in the pathogenesis of China and if
we do not give it soon, the pulse will become irregular, flickering, and
imperceptible; skin cold and clammy; fainting and unconsciousness. Even
at this stage China 2c in water, every two or three minutes, will soon
work a favourable change.Generally feels worse
periodically; in the night; after drinking; while talking; can’t talk,
wished others to explain: after perspiration; on touching the parts
softly.China cannot be
confounded with Carb. veg. as firstly, in Carb. Veg. the patient wishes
to be fanned hard, and if at all in China, very softly. Secondly, in
Carb. v., the skin is dry and blue, while in China it is moist and
clammy, Thirdly, in Carb. V. we find no ringing in the ears, as we do in
China.CROC.
The striking feature of
this haemorrhage is its black and stringy character, the blood forming
long dark strings as it flows; often resembling long, black earthworms.
We find this feature, whether the haemorrhage be from the uterus, lungs,
or the nose. When examined in a mass the strings may be somewhat matted
together, but the characteristic tendency is plainly observable.
Sensation of a bounding or rolling in the abdomen, as of something
alive.Feels worse in the
morning, when fasting; during pregnancy; in a warm or closed room.Better in the open air;
after eating.FERRUM.
We usually notice a
very red face, with a full pulse; the haemorrhage is partly of a fluid,
and partly of a black and clotted character. The flow may be from the
lungs, stomach, nose, bowels, or uterus. If from the uterus, there are
very often violent, labour-like pains in the back and abdomen; great
erethism of the circulation; flushes of heat.Feels worse at night,
particularly after midnight; from change of position; from fat food.The trouble may have
been super-induced from poisoning by peruvian bark; the patient is
generally very weak though having so red a face and so full a pulse.HYOS.
The alarming points
that appear are delirium; semi-consciousness; a constant flow of blood;
jerking and twitching of the muscles; face bluish; eyes congested. The
hemorrhage may have been brought on by a fit of jealously; by taking
cold; by unhappy love, or some other mental affection.Worse usually in the
evening.Better from stooping or
leaning forward.Hyos. differs from all
or its companion remedies by the prompt appearance of delirium, by the
semi-consciousness, by the. twitching and jerking of the muscles, and by
the bluish face. The alarming kind of haemorrhage is usually uterine.IPEC.
When we have an
uninterrupted discharge of bright red blood from the vagina, nose or
lungs. The first symptom here is usually a complaint of faintness and
nausea; also, there may be a sharp cutting pain from the navel towards
the uterus; later we may find cold skin, cold sweat, and a species of
suffocating spells.Hemorrhages sometimes
follow suppression of eruptions; abuses of Peruvian bark; eating;
coughing; while vomiting; occur periodically.It will be perceived
that Ipec. has not the ringing in the ears, nor has China the nausea.
Ipec. would also be indicated in a constant flow of bright red blo~d
from the nose or lungs, with the above gastric symptoms and faintness.
Ipec. is more frequently indicated than any other remedy.KALI CARB.
We are most frequently
led to think of this remedy for haemor~1~ages occurring some days or
weeks after parturition; also for epistaxis and haemoptysis after being
overheated, and after a vexation. The sometimes accompanying symptoms
are agonizing pain in the back, extending to the gluteal muscles, and
down over the sacrum; stitching pains in the abdomen. abdomen often
tympanitic.Feels better from being
covered up warmly; after eructations which occur quite frequently.One of the best
remedies to prevent abortion occurring about the second month, when
characterized by stitching pains; pains in the back hindering walking,
causing the patient to feel like stopping to lie down anywhere, in the
street, on the floor, etc.; later, these pains may extend over the
sacrum to the gluteal muscles.LACHESIS.
For flooding occurring
at the critical age, particularly when characterized by chills at night
and hot flushes by day, or floodings at any time when thus
characterized; after parturition, with pains in the right ovarian
regiori always relieved by flow of blood from the vagina; in all typhus
or typhoid conditions, where there is a flow of dark blood from the
nose, from the lungs, or from the bowels with a sediment like charred
straw. This sediment may either have a crushed appearance, or may look
like distinct spears of charred straw – it really being decomposed
blood.Diarrhœa following
milk-leg are sometimes accompanied with a hemorrhage of this sort, and
here Lach. will be the curative agent.LYCOPODIUM.
Haemorrhages from the
nose, lungs, or uterus when~there is a great deal of flatulence,
borborygmus, and a sensation of fullness upto the throat, after taking a
small quantity of water or nourishment; frequent flushes of heat;
palpitation of the heart; cutting pairis from right to left in the
abdomen; all symptoms worse from four to eight in the evening. Desire
for air; to have the windows open; to be fanned. This remedy may often
be used in the worst cases of pulmonic haemorrhage.MERC.
This remedy is particularly applicable in
haemorrhages occurring in elderly females some time after the critical
period has passed; light hair; scorbutic condition of the system. Cold,
damp thighs and legs at night; perspiration sour and mouldy, excepting
of the feet which is scentless; skin and muscles lax; thirst, even
though the mouth be full of saliva; mood serious, sometimes amorous.Feels worse at night;
when blowing the nose. With the above conditions epistaxis, haemoptysis,
haematemesis, haemorrhage from the bowels or uterus.NITRIC. AC.
This remedy is in many respects similar to Merc. and
sometimes a very close comparison is requisite to discriminate between
the two.Contrary to Merc.,
Nitric. Ac. has dark hair; perspiration sour and urinous; skin and
muscle rigid; no thirst; blood dark; foot sweat fetid; distrust. The
urine is stronger smelling, like horse urine.Bleeding from the
arteries and capillaries; bleeding from the uterus with pain in the
back, running down through the hips into the legs with a sensation of
pressure, as if the uterus itself would escape from the vulva. In so
comparing Merc. and Nitr. Ac., we find them different from each other,
and from all the preceding remedies.NUX VOM.
It is a curious fact
that in almost haemorrhages requiring NUX. V., we find an irritable
condition of the rectum, which is a frequent and ineffectual desire for
stool, with the sensation as if portion of faeces were in the rectum,
this latter sensation remaining even after defecation; usually in
dark-haired subjects.Haemorrhage may be excited by indulgence in rich
food; from much coffee, intoxicating drinks; constipa tion.Worse in cold air,
between three and four a.m.Better in a warm place;
lying on the side; in loose garments; passing wind per anum.PHOSPHORUS.
Particularly for tall,
slim, dark-haired subjects; also in females who menstruate too often,
too much, too long.Sensation of emptiness
in the abdomen; slim, dry stools, expelled with difficulty; flushes of
heat.Feels worse lying on
the left side; on the back; from warm food or drinks.Better lying on the
right side; from cold food and drinks; from being rubbed; after sleep.Small wounds bleed
persistently and profusely; bleeding erectile tumors.PLAT.
Haemorrhages, blood
being partially fluid and partially hard, black clots; also coming out
in quantities, and having a dark, tarry appearance; with sensation as if
the body was growing, larger in every direction; in dark-haired,
spasmodic and nervous subjects.PULSATILLA.
Intermittent
haemorrhage, blood generally dark; in subjects of mild and tearful
temperaments; can lie best on right side; feels worse in a close, warm
room; desire for open doors and windows; no thirst; scanty urine; blood
flows and stops, again flows and stops.SABINA.
Blood flows freely in fluid and in clots. When from
the uterus, there is very often a pain from the sacrum to the pubis or
vice versa; for violent after-pains of the above na ture, w;th the above
characteristic bleeding; especially applicable to miscarriages coming on
about the third month; blood pale from the nose; blood from the vagina
pale, or red, dark, or mixed with light red; much soreness in the
hypogastric region.Feels worse in a close,
warm room. Better in the open air.We see that Puls. and
Sabina agree in the aggravation from warmth, but Sabina has that
peculiar pain. Puls. has a different disposition, and the character of
haemorrhage differs.SECALE CORN.
The flow is passive and
may be dark or red, mostly red; in subjects who are naturally feeble and
cachetic; tingling in the limbs and prostration; desire for air;
aversion to being covered; cool skin with no desire for covering.Better when lying with
limbs extended. (In CaIc. c., the patient feels better with the limbs
drawn up.)SEPIA.
With abdominal plethora
or congestion; pain in the right groin; sensation of weight in the anus;
painful sensation of emptiness in the pit of the stomach.Feels better from drawing up the limbs.
Disposition to abort
from the fifth to the seventh month, especially when there is uterine
congestion; cold hands and feet; hot flashes; particularly where she
complains of little, fine, darting pains up the neck of the uterus. The
difference must be remembered among Kali. C. which has abortion about
the second month of pregnancy, Sabina, with abortion about the tenth
month and Sepia, with abortion after the fifth month.SULPHUR.
Sensation of heat in
any part previous to as well as during the hemorrhage, particularly when
from the lungs. This sensation of heat may be in the inner part of the
nose, uterus, rectum, etc.Worse when warm in bed;
when exposed to any heat, as of fire, etc.In giving these
remedies for bleeding from internal parts, I think it proper to remark
upon the so-called adjuvants which some physicians resort to for the
arrest of hemorrhages.As we passed over a
variety of haemorrhages, and have observed how each has its own peculiar
character, each one differing from all the others, it will be useful to
inquire “why does the patient bleed in this manner or that. Why
these bleedings occur each of its own peculiar type, from the nose, from
the lungs, or from the dried up uterus of the aged female?” We know
that in all these haemorrhagic conditions there were no open blood
vessels from which blood could flow.What other cause then
can be assigned but that a peculiar morbific condition exists in each
case, which, having induced a flux of blood to the parts concerned,
caused the bleeding? In apoplexia, in the various conges tions, in the
erethisni of blood which causes flashes of heat, there is a morbific
agent at work which is not unlike in principle, other morbid conditions
causing other forms of disease which are perfectly amenable to the
remedies of our materia med ica.And why then might we
not as well employ the so-called adjuvants in almost any other form of
disease, as in bleeding from inner parts?As in the pathogenesis
of a peculiar morbific influence which we see manifested in the various
forms of haemorrhages, so the pathogenesis of some peculiar drug must
indicate its use in arresting the forms of bleeding to which it is
adapted.As we know our
remedies, we can succeed with their use as destined by the Creator
without the aid of any cumbersome, and often injurious, so called
adjuvants.
The Homœopathic Heritage, March,
1993. p. 151-7.
H. N. Guernsey, M.D.Source : The
California Homœopath, Nov. 1884.Copyright © Sylvain
Cazalet 2001
