Here’s a case of back pain and dryness that resolved with the Homeopathic remedy, Bryonia:
A woman in her late 40’s sought my help for back pain which began a month ago. When I asked her when it started, I expected to hear of an accident or an emotional trauma, but her story was different. She said the trouble began one day when the weather turned warm quite quickly. That was it; no drama!
When I asked about the back pain, what made it worse or better, what the pain felt like, her replies lacked something, like emotion, or interest, but I couldn’t put my finger on it yet. Later, this detail helped me to narrow down the remedy options. I had a feeling that what she needed was a remedy that matched her ‘dry’ nature.
About the pain, she said that it was across her lower back; it was sharp pain and it hurt whenever she moved, especially in the morning. Even the slightest movement would cause great pain. The only time it didn’t hurt was when she was lying flat on her back, totally still, like a corpse.
Due to the nature of her complaint I needed to rule out internal injury, etc. When asked about this she said that her x-rays were normal and her MD said she was fine and gave her pain-killers. The pills made her nauseous, especially whenever she would sit up, so she has been avoiding them.
Another issue was her thirst. She said she had to drink large amounts of water to quench her thirst. This was a problem because she often had to go to the bathroom, and that aggravated her back pain.
Thinking about this case, I decided to give her Bryonia 30C. In school, I remembered the phrase “Bry is dry” and I thought about all the ways she manifested this state: her personality, her thirst, her current life of lying motionless on the floor to avoid pain, and her great thirst. She also shared Bryonia’s sharp type of pain, as well as sensitivity to warm weather, movement, and pressure – interesting that she found comfort from lying on the body part that is giving her pain. I loved that she mentioned her sensitivity to the pain-killers, since Bryonia, too, matches the issue of feeling nausea when sitting up. I recommended that she take three doses, each 8-12 hours apart.
Two days later, she emailed me to say that her pain is about half gone; she felt such relief! I didn’t hear from her again until one month later; she came to see me because she was worried about how thirsty she still was. I asked about her back pain and she said she forgot to even mention it.
A week after the Bryonia doses her pain was gone. However, her thirst was making her nervous. She feared a serious disease. I told her that she should see her MD if she wanted to get some testing done, and in the meantime I would recommend a homeopathic remedy again. Since she did so well on the Bryonia, and since great thirst is so characteristic of Bryonia, I repeated the remedy in the same way.
She then emailed me a week later to say things were back to normal and that she will hold off on getting any testing done unless her great thirst comes back. This is a great example of how homeopathic remedies support our vitality to help our bodies heal themselves.
