In October 2012 a 45-year-old woman came to see me. Her main complaint was urticaria, which she described as a large, red rash all over her body. Her lips and the area above her eyes were swollen. The itching was severe and her whole body burned inside and out. Because of the burning she could not sleep at night. She said she preferred homoeopathic treatment because the usual medical ointments had not worked for her and she did not want to take conventional medicine any more. Her thyroid had already been removed and her high blood pressure was controlled with medication. She had already tried to eat more healthily but could not see any connection between her diet and the rash.
She is married, has two children and a good relationship with her husband. In puberty she had felt that her father preferred her older sister, while her mother favoured her younger sister. When the siblings did something wrong it was always she who was beaten by their father, never her sister. After his death she inherited part of the family home. Her mother lived in one part of the house, her older sister – with whom she did not get on well – also lived there. Later she and her family moved into the house and from then on there was a lot of trouble. Her mother was very domineering, and the patient did not want to be told what to do. She felt that as an adult woman with her own family she did not need that. Conflicts and misunderstandings between the sisters and the mother occurred increasingly often until they finally stopped speaking to one another. The patient suffered from the attacks by her sister and said: "I think I got my urticaria because of all that stress."
P: "When I am stressed my throat tightens as if there is an apple there that I cannot swallow. My stomach and lower abdomen ache; it feels constricted. I feel powerless, like in a dead end. I try to overcome this feeling of hatred towards my sister and my mother; hatred because they manipulate me. I am very sad. I feel as if my sister hates everything about me. These constant conflicts with my sister hurt me, I feel threatened. The worst thing is when she turns my mother against me. I would like to go away, but I don’t know where to go. My relationships are on a knife-edge. I don’t know how to resolve this situation. I have to stay in this house, I can’t go anywhere else. I feel I must constantly adapt; especially to my mother. She is the mistress of the house; she is very dominant. I am not usually an insecure person, but I see no other option than to submit. When my 
sister yells at me my heart starts to race so much that I am afraid I will have a heart attack. I don’t feel comfortable in her presence. My body stiffens and I feel afraid. I would like my peace. You can have the house; I can’t take it to the grave anyway."
The patient is sensitive to cold; her hands and feet are always cold and she wears warm socks in bed at night. She loves warmth and the sun; they give her a lot of energy. In bad weather she feels gloomy. She likes sweet things but not meat.
AB: "What relationship do you have to animals and plants?"
P: "I love trees! I like to look at them when they flower and in autumn when they lose their leaves. How they rest in winter so that they can be brought back to life in the spring. In the park I always touch their bark; they give me energy. I also like to look up into the tree canopy from below. When I am at my sister’s I feel like a tree in winter – the leaves are gone and the snow lies so heavily on the branches that they could break and destroy the tree."
The patient made a strong yet fragile impression on me. She was very open and had the need to tell me everything so that I could help her. I found her very friendly and a little shy. Her strength and close relationship to trees made me think of this remedy group. People who need a tree remedy are usually tough, strong-willed, dominant and work hard. My patient, however, was not dominant. There was something fragile about her. A tree that can be tough yet delicate is Acer saccharum. The proving was carried out by Jason-Aeric Huenecke from Canada and lists the following rubrics, which fit this patient very well:
Complaints from disappointment
Watchful
Passionate, full of
Aversion to family members
Self-confidence
Grief with indignation
Growling
Helplessness
Howling at night
Diligence
Inhibition
Irritability, evenings
Wants to be quiet, to have one’s peace
Sadness; after quarrel with husband
Sensitive to all external impressions
As physical symptoms the proving describes itchy and burning rashes, stomach pains due to sadness and conflicts, the sensation of a lump in the throat and sensitivity to cold. Additionally the proving mentions the colour red. My patient came to see me twice and each time she wore a red jumper. She told me that she had recently taken to liking the colour red and therefore often wore it.
Prescription: one dose Acer saccharum C200
Follow-ups
The day after the remedy was given the rash also appeared on her hands and feet, where it had not been before. It itched and burned intensely.
After three days the rash improved and it itched less. The rash then repeatedly worsened and subsequently got better, with the intervals between episodes becoming progressively longer.
After six weeks the rash did not return. Her doctors had recommended a hypoallergenic diet, which she did not follow. She ate whatever she wanted.
The relationship with her mother has improved and they speak to each other again. She cannot reconcile with her sister. She freely admits that the problem may also lie with her. In her thoughts she speaks to her sister again. Her sister has changed. She has stopped turning on the washing machine at night and slamming doors. She reports: "It feels as if life in the house has become easier. Now I always say 'I’m going home' and no longer 'I’m going into this house', as I used to."
Two years have now passed and the rash has not recurred.
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Photos: Shutterstock
Hunting knife; dien
Category: Cases
Keywords: Urticaria, family conflicts, tough but fragile, tree remedy
Remedy: Acer saccharum
Original article: Interhomeopathy.org
