The ABC Homeopathy Forum
Claw Hand
Hi, I am seeking help from anyone who may have had a similar experience. In May 05 my 23 year old son Johnathon was in a severe car accident. He suffered a diffused brain injury and was in a coma for one month and we were at inpatient rehab for 75 days. He had to relearn how to eat, talk, and is still walking with a cane. There was injury to his brainstem. Cognitively he is doing really well, but still has issues with short term memory. It is slowly getting better. We have been thru many stages of healing. I have used many different homeopathic remedies. Our greatest concern is this. When he was in the hospital they had him on dantrolene sodium which is an antispasmodic for his left arm and hand. When we left hospital I began to wean him from medicine because we are both committed to using only natural healing, and i could see it was affecting his ability to be present. I was also committed to finding him a more natural substitute. I thought to myself if a chemical can make his brain turn off the switch in the brain that is over firing and causing this spasticity then there must be a natural remedy that can do the same thing without the side effects of the drugs. He has what they call 'claw hand'. while on medication his hand was more relaxed, very sensitive to touch and his last three fingers were straight. I weaned him off of the Dantrolene in october of 05 and by january 06 the last three fingers of his left hand began to bend at the knuckles, and his dropped left wrist got worse. His index finger and thumb are straight. The knuckles on palm are deforming and protruding out. He also when walking tends to bend his arm at the elbow. And will relax it with a reminder, for a short while. His right leg is the challenge for him as he now tends to walk with his right foot pointed inward and his ankle does not look stable. He tends to hold his right knee straight often instead of bending it. With reminders and PT he is beginning to remember to walk heel toe. We do massage on his hand and soak his hand in hot packs, which he enjoys the heat. I do what ever I can to help keep the tendons stretched. He also can't rotate his left palm to face up. There is a lot of atrophy at this point and my ideas on what to do are waning as I have become exhausted during this intense near three year journey we have been on. We are doing hyperbaric oxygen a few times per week and hoping this will also help hand and leg. Any and all feedback is so greatly appreciated.Thank-you,
Lucia and Johnathon
mypenstroke on 2008-02-08
This is just a forum. Assume posts are not from medical professionals.
Hello there, and that is quite the case you have there.
If I may ask:
1/. Have your son's cognitive abilities fully returned now, or does he still have some problems, aside from his short term memory?
2/. Has there been any actual damage to the areas of the body where these physical symptoms are manifest, or are they just considered to be the result of his brain injury alone?
3/. What remedies has been given so far?
'Dr' O.
If I may ask:
1/. Have your son's cognitive abilities fully returned now, or does he still have some problems, aside from his short term memory?
2/. Has there been any actual damage to the areas of the body where these physical symptoms are manifest, or are they just considered to be the result of his brain injury alone?
3/. What remedies has been given so far?
'Dr' O.
Mr Organon last decade
Hi, Dr. O
Thank-you for such a quick reply. Okay here we go...
1. Yes Johnathon's cognitive abilities have fully returned. Besides short term memory he has a strong sensitivity to loud sounds, he feels startled and will respond with anger. The sounds which bother him the most are kitchen sounds such as dishes, closing cabinets, doors if too loud. His nervous system seems to go on overload. I have learned to be more conscious about the level of noise I make. He wears ear muffs which help muffle sound. Also, I think important to mention is that he was Very etherial child like and recapitulating child like qualities. He has been dancing between the ages of 10 years old to present time age. At this point he is much more age appropriate and I feel he will have a complete recovery. Oh Yeah, he also has a distorted sense of time what may have happened a couple of months ago he thinks only happened a few days ago. He loves to read, writes amazing poetry, loves learning. He is sad he can't play his acoustic guitar anymore. He was also very athletic and coordinated before this brain injury.
2. He suffered no physical damage to his left hand from the car accident at all. No broken bones, in the body no internal bleeding. The impact was on his right temporal parietal area and he was given sutures here. Closed head injury. Left hand and right leg are like this from the brain injury itself.
3. These are remedies we have used in the recent past. Causticum 30c for leg seemed to help with his walk for a short time. Natrum Sulphuricum 1m about 1 year to 6 months ago. Baryta Carbonica 200c and 1 dose of 1m.
More recent ones are Plumbum Metallicum For hand dropped wrist. Did not see much of a difference in wrist. Wrist moves about 6 degrees up and down. Muscles on top of arm have atrophied alot not enough use of hand. Fingers are stuck in a flexed position. Will extend to a bit more then 90 degrees with assistance, has not had full extension since january 06. There is movement in his knuckles though as I have him do resistance excercises with each finger. 30c and 200c Plumb also helped cognitively good one for him. Has helped with the maturing process.
Gelsemium 1m he responds well to socially, Easier to be out in public. Natrum muriaticum 200c. Gave him a dose yesterday and I noticed helped him with sounds. Thiosinaminum 30c for scar tissue. Okay I think this is it.
Thank-you again, Lucia
Thank-you for such a quick reply. Okay here we go...
1. Yes Johnathon's cognitive abilities have fully returned. Besides short term memory he has a strong sensitivity to loud sounds, he feels startled and will respond with anger. The sounds which bother him the most are kitchen sounds such as dishes, closing cabinets, doors if too loud. His nervous system seems to go on overload. I have learned to be more conscious about the level of noise I make. He wears ear muffs which help muffle sound. Also, I think important to mention is that he was Very etherial child like and recapitulating child like qualities. He has been dancing between the ages of 10 years old to present time age. At this point he is much more age appropriate and I feel he will have a complete recovery. Oh Yeah, he also has a distorted sense of time what may have happened a couple of months ago he thinks only happened a few days ago. He loves to read, writes amazing poetry, loves learning. He is sad he can't play his acoustic guitar anymore. He was also very athletic and coordinated before this brain injury.
2. He suffered no physical damage to his left hand from the car accident at all. No broken bones, in the body no internal bleeding. The impact was on his right temporal parietal area and he was given sutures here. Closed head injury. Left hand and right leg are like this from the brain injury itself.
3. These are remedies we have used in the recent past. Causticum 30c for leg seemed to help with his walk for a short time. Natrum Sulphuricum 1m about 1 year to 6 months ago. Baryta Carbonica 200c and 1 dose of 1m.
More recent ones are Plumbum Metallicum For hand dropped wrist. Did not see much of a difference in wrist. Wrist moves about 6 degrees up and down. Muscles on top of arm have atrophied alot not enough use of hand. Fingers are stuck in a flexed position. Will extend to a bit more then 90 degrees with assistance, has not had full extension since january 06. There is movement in his knuckles though as I have him do resistance excercises with each finger. 30c and 200c Plumb also helped cognitively good one for him. Has helped with the maturing process.
Gelsemium 1m he responds well to socially, Easier to be out in public. Natrum muriaticum 200c. Gave him a dose yesterday and I noticed helped him with sounds. Thiosinaminum 30c for scar tissue. Okay I think this is it.
Thank-you again, Lucia
mypenstroke last decade
Hello Lucia, and you are welcome.
Hmm, interesting.
There are a few remedies which may be indicated in your sons case, although two of these have already been given, viz: Plumbum and Causticum, and this latter was actually to be my first choice. Tell me, you say this remedy provided some benefit, but this was only shortlived, did you not then try to give it in a higher potency?
Just to confirm also, this atrophy of the upper arm existed BEFORE plumbum was applied, correct?
Hypericum is another remedy I would consider, as, from any brain injury, there will be quite considerable damage to the nervous tissues involved, which is the main sphere of this drug. He also has a number of indications, such as the extreme sensitive experienced, both of the affected areas, and to noise.
Natrum Sulph was to be another consideration, but if this has already been given as high as a 1M, without any effect, it is unlikely to be of help.
Is there any tendency toward convulsions or twitching in your sons presentation?
A word of caution also, if you are to apply Gelsemium simply for nervousness in public, this should not be given as high as a 1M. A potency as low as a 6c would be more than adequate for this.
I would also advise caution in swapping remedies around when they are providing benefit, or applying them for only one or two specific symptoms. In the former circumstance, one runs the risk of losing the correct remedy, which may have proved curative in higher potencies (which may actually be the case for Causticum), and also of greatly confusing the symptomology. In the latter situation, there is also a risk of confusing the case, and making it much harder to treat.
Once you find a remedy which works, stick with it, applying it periodically in ascending potency, until it no longer provides any relief, bearing in mind there has to be a pretty high degree of pathological change involved in your sons condition, so any reactions may be slow. It is only by following this method though, that your son will find full cure.
Please answer the questions above, and we will take things from there.
Best wishes,
'Dr' O.
Hmm, interesting.
There are a few remedies which may be indicated in your sons case, although two of these have already been given, viz: Plumbum and Causticum, and this latter was actually to be my first choice. Tell me, you say this remedy provided some benefit, but this was only shortlived, did you not then try to give it in a higher potency?
Just to confirm also, this atrophy of the upper arm existed BEFORE plumbum was applied, correct?
Hypericum is another remedy I would consider, as, from any brain injury, there will be quite considerable damage to the nervous tissues involved, which is the main sphere of this drug. He also has a number of indications, such as the extreme sensitive experienced, both of the affected areas, and to noise.
Natrum Sulph was to be another consideration, but if this has already been given as high as a 1M, without any effect, it is unlikely to be of help.
Is there any tendency toward convulsions or twitching in your sons presentation?
A word of caution also, if you are to apply Gelsemium simply for nervousness in public, this should not be given as high as a 1M. A potency as low as a 6c would be more than adequate for this.
I would also advise caution in swapping remedies around when they are providing benefit, or applying them for only one or two specific symptoms. In the former circumstance, one runs the risk of losing the correct remedy, which may have proved curative in higher potencies (which may actually be the case for Causticum), and also of greatly confusing the symptomology. In the latter situation, there is also a risk of confusing the case, and making it much harder to treat.
Once you find a remedy which works, stick with it, applying it periodically in ascending potency, until it no longer provides any relief, bearing in mind there has to be a pretty high degree of pathological change involved in your sons condition, so any reactions may be slow. It is only by following this method though, that your son will find full cure.
Please answer the questions above, and we will take things from there.
Best wishes,
'Dr' O.
Mr Organon last decade
HI Dr.O,
Okay, 30c is the highest potency of causticum I have given him. Yes, atrophy of the upper arm existed before plumbum. No there is no convulsions or twitching at all, his wrist and hand are really stiff. Got it about the gelsemium. And thank-you about ascending potencies. Hypericum I have used in low potencies. I hope this helps.
thanks, lucia
Thanks,
lucia
Okay, 30c is the highest potency of causticum I have given him. Yes, atrophy of the upper arm existed before plumbum. No there is no convulsions or twitching at all, his wrist and hand are really stiff. Got it about the gelsemium. And thank-you about ascending potencies. Hypericum I have used in low potencies. I hope this helps.
thanks, lucia
Thanks,
lucia
mypenstroke last decade
Okay then, your next move, after the Nat Mur has been allowed to act a little (give it a few more days at least) would be to apply Causticum again, to properley ascertain it's effect.
How many doses did he have of this remedy?
How many doses did he have of this remedy?
Mr Organon last decade
I have been using causticum on and off for about 8 monthes. I statred with a 12c for several months, and have used 30c as the highest potency. I don't know how many doses he has had. Will I start with the 30c of causticum?
mypenstroke last decade
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