A case of helodrilus - The earthworm by Susan Sonz, CCH in consultation with Louis Klein, RSHom (NA)

Case
 Eczema, asperger's syndrome 
 Helodrilus caliginosus 
 Case 
 Bryan M. Male, age 9.
 Original case taken 9/15/97.
 Bryan is blue-eyed and blonde, with a big head and a husky body. He is an awkward boy, a bit uncoordinated, not athletic, and somewhat clumsy.
 Bryan's presenting complaint is eczema on the inner canthi of his eyes. It is red and itchy, sometimes scabby. At times, it appears as a small area in the inner corner of the eye. At other times, it is a larger area that spreads out onto the upper lids. Bryan also has eczema in back of his ears (a line running along the joint of the ear to the head; red, painful, sometimes oozing), and on two spots on his torso (red and itchy, sometimes angry and wet-looking; it looks a bit like poison ivy in that it is raised and bumpy and a little scabby). He also had this on his penis for the first seven years of his life.
 In addition to his eczema, Bryan has had fungus on the fingernails of his left hand since age two. Psoriasis runs throughout the mother's family.
 Bryan was born three weeks late. His skin was very red and he had a very large head. His mother had a urinary tract infection two months before the birth, but used no medication. At three weeks old, Bryan had a umbilical infection. He received antibiotics and a spinal tap, and was hospitalized for two weeks. As a baby he had lots of diaper rash, fungal at times. He walked at age 15 months. Other these problems, he has been healthy as a child.
 Bryan is amel. summer, amel. ocean, but agg. winter, agg. dry heat, and agg. indoors.
 He enjoys reading, food in general, peanut butter, yogurt, bananas, eggs, fruit, grapefruit, and oranges. He dislikes vegetables, especially brussels sprouts. He used to dislike meat, but will now eat it. He is ameliorated by being alone during the day, but is worse for being alone at night. He is not helped by consolation.
 The most interesting and peculiar thing about Bryan is that when he comes home from school, he must pace around the yard. He does this with his arms down by his sides and hands sticking out and gesturing-like a penguin. He is totally absorbed while doing this, in his own world, thinking, pondering, and startling every so often. He must do this for at least a half hour, rain, snow, or shine.
 Bryan has two younger brothers. He gets along with them and is generally easy to get along with at home. If he fights, he feels remorse quickly and apologizes. He fears being alone at night and the dark. Although he is a loner during the day, he is afraid to be alone at night. He does not like to run and jump.
 Bryan doesn't cry much. When he likes something, he really gets into it and becomes very absorbed. He loves to read and is serious, mature, articulate, and focussed. He is very unhappy in school. His teacher has pegged him as a strange kid and has accused him of many things, even stealing. He hates sitting still in school and being told what to do. He is also unhappy being the "bad kid."
 The most interesting and peculiar thing about Bryan is that when he comes home from school, he must pace around the yard. He does this with his arms down by his sides and hands sticking out and gesturing-like a penguin. He is totally absorbed while doing this, in his own world, thinking, pondering, and startling every so often. He must do this for at least a half hour, rain, snow, or shine.
 Discussion 

 October 1, 1997. This seemed to me like an obvious Graphites case-because of the oozing eruptions behind the ears, the general skin problems, the inflammation of the inner canthi, and the simple, basic, earthy nature of this kid. But, of course, it wasn't.
 Next, I tried Petroleum (Dec. 20, 1997), again because of the eruptions behind the ears and the inner canthi, and the fact that Bryan was agg. in winter and amel. in summer. Later, I tried Calcarea Carbonica (Feb. 20, 1998), because of his night fears. I felt he looked like a Carbon; he has the industriousness of a Carbon remedy, and a sort of serious style for a kid, which is also Carbon-like. It appeared that there were also some issues with his father who was not a very sensitive type and who had probably expected a more "normal", athletic type child as a first born son. I was really surprised by the fact that this had looked like an easy case, but wasn't. It had repertorized strongly as Graphites, Petroleum, and Calcarea Carbonica, and as a person he seemed to fit these remedies in many ways. But Bryan was not relieved in any way by these remedies.
 As we continued to try these remedies without result, Bryan was realizing that he was more and more unhappy in life and school, and was beginning to feel somewhat hopeless about it. He was embarrassed about his eczema and miserable in school. Interestingly, even though the remedies were not working, he had an instinct about the process, and kept after his mother to ask me for another remedy. She also seemed to have faith in Homeopathy, although she knows nothing about it.
 I felt frustrated and so, in March 1998, I consulted with Lou Klein. He suggested that we try Helodrilus. It sounded right somehow, maybe because of the "look" of Bryan. He was a slow, thick type of a boy with a kind of dull look on his face and a plodding nature. It also made sense to me that his teacher and friends were responding to him the way that people respond to worms, with disgust and aversion. Lou and I were also interested in the fact that Bryan had been accused of a crime, even though he insisted that he was innocent. Then I remembered that, as a younger child, Bryan had been extremely interested in castles and knights, both as toys and costumes; medieval fantasies are another characteristic of Helodrilus.
 Rx: Helodrilus, 30C, once a week for 3 weeks.
 Followups 
 5 weeks later, Bryan's eczema was completely gone, everywhere. His parents were amazed and thrilled. But, more interestingly, his mother said that his entire life had changed-he had gone from being unhappy and unpopular to being just the opposite. His classmates and the teacher now like him, and now he loves school. His mother feels this is remarkable, as she was about to move him to a private school. And, his fungal fingernails, which he has had since he was two years old, have gone away.
 Because this is one of those long-distance cases, I rarely see Bryan. His family lives in the country in Pennsylvania and they do not have anxiety of health. They rarely call-only when the eczema really flares up, which it did in October 1998. I had him repeat the remedy, this time a 200C. It all got better and he did not need a repeat until May 1999. I later saw him in August 1999, and he was still well.
 I spoke to Bryan's mother on 11/29/99. She reported:
 "He is better than he's ever been. He likes school, and he has blossomed socially. He's in a great mood. He's sleeping really well-which used to be a big problem because of his fears and anxieties at night. All the other eczema is gone and so is the fungus, but his inner canthi did recently get red again, once the cold weather set in. He no longer paces the back yard after school, though he does still like to be alone for a while after he gets home."
 Bryan's mother said she is very grateful. I have had his mother order a 1M recently, and I will have him repeat it as soon as the eczema flares up again.
Remark 

 The American Homeopath asked Louis Klein why he prescribed Helodrilus in this case. Here is his response:
 "This case, in a general way, has all the earmarks of Earthworm. One of the striking aspects of this case was that the child has a feeling of being a criminal, even to the point where the teacher accuses him of stealing. When you look, though, at the overall totality of what he is like, he is definitely not a criminal-so I would not consider a remedy that has a proactive criminality. On looking at the picture of him and perceiving the overall totality of the case, I saw a more morose or remorseful "loner" kind of individual. In the Earthworm proving, there were many dreams, actions, and thoughts that were quite intense, either to do with sexuality, indifference to suffering, or criminality-but they were followed by a feeling of remorse. Bryan's semiautistic state (Asperger's Syndrome) with awkwardness is also indicative of Earthworm.
 In addition, in terms of etiology, Earthworm, I believe, is an important remedy to be considered for injuries to the spine (particularly the discs). Possibly, the etiology of the state in this case is Bryan's spinal tap as a child."
 Susan Sonz directs the New York School of Homeopathy and lives and practices in New York City. ssonzaol. com
  [I]n terms of etiology, Earthworm, I believe, is an important remedy to be considered for injuries to the spine (particularly the discs). 

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