Four-year-old Leonie lives with her parents and her 5-year-old brother on a farm. Since she was three months old she has had an eczema on her stomach and in the nappy area. She still wears her nappy day and night. The dermatologist could not detect an allergy, diagnosed a dermatomycosis and prescribed an ointment that did not heal.
Leonie is an energetic girl, restless, headstrong, defiant and direct. Her strength is almost palpable. Her mother reports that she dominates her older brother, with whom she is constantly arguing. For example, her brother has his own pony and as soon as he wants to sit on or ride it, his sister comes, pushes him away and says the pony belongs to her. No one except her is to sit on it. She always wants to be the centre of attention; the brother is rather shy and cannot assert himself. He withdraws and responds to the situation with a dry, croup-like cough.
Leonie likes to drink the fresh milk from their own herd of cows, upon which the eczema always reacts with a slight worsening. She is warm-blooded, often takes off her shoes and socks and walks around barefoot. Her hair is matted, particularly at the back of the head.
In our practice we have some small plastic animals to play with. At every appointment she immediately chooses a giraffe or a lion. Either she throws the giraffe on the floor and stomps on it or she puts the giraffe's head into her mouth or into the mouth of the plastic lion, as if she wanted to bite the giraffe's head off. Her mother says that she loves animals and often helps in the barn with feeding the cows.
Analysis:
The symptoms pointed to Sulphur (warm-blooded, improvement when the feet are uncovered, matted hair at the back of the head = “Plica polonica”). The jealousy towards the brother and her colour preference (Red 8C) were choice-indicating for Calc‑s., which I also first tried in C30/200. The skin improved slightly, but the behaviour towards the brother remained unchanged.
So I tried to understand the case on a deeper level. The constant rivalry with the brother and the child's love of animals can also be seen as an indication for a remedy from the animal kingdom. The craving for milk and the aggravation from milk are an indication for a milk remedy. The self-evident power and strength (stage 10) were clearly apparent; wanting always to be the centre of attention (stage 10) and the aggressive play with the giraffe point to Lac leoninum. And on top of that, her name is Leonie!
Follow up:
After taking Lac leoninum C200 there was a slight aggravation for three days, then the eczema disappeared completely. The behaviour towards the brother had changed noticeably. The two stopped arguing all day and now enjoyed playing together, which would previously have been impossible. Leonie had always wanted to be first and best and that was no longer so important to her. She became more polite and her sullen facial expression also changed. After the second dose, a month later, she refused to continue wearing her nappy. She has been well for a year and a half. She still likes to drink milk; only if she drinks too much of it does her skin become a little dry.
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Source: http://www.interhomeopathy.org/lac_leoninum_with_eczema_and_sibbling_rivalry
Photo: Shutterstock_1401620264, Copyright: fizkes
