Referral doctors working with the Cayce readings have a variety of experiences, some of them drawn from their patients’ lack of definitive past improvement. (One of my doctor friends calls these patients the “Mayo Clinic rejects.”) Such an opportunity was given to Louis Mancuso, D. O., and his patient Jim Wagner.
Jim apparently had been bitten on the heel by a brown recluse spider, had consulted three doctors and had been in the emergency room of two hospitals over a five-and-a-half-week period. He had received three different diagnoses (the last one being correct), had been given directions to soak his foot, had received eight antibiotic shots and had taken 112 500-mg. antibiotic tablets. The severe pain had subsided, the inflammation had left, but the swelling was worse at the end of the five-and-a-half weeks than it was at the beginning. Though he was able to put his foot on the ground instead of in an elevated position, he walked with a cane. This was his past history when he consulted Dr. Mancuso.
Therapy suggested? Twice a day, sprinkle Epsom salts on the foot, cover with a damp cloth and leave for 20 minutes; massage the leg downward from the knee with castor oil, allowing the coating of oil to remain an hour or so after the massage; and apply zinc oxide as a paste over the foot overnight (wrapping it to protect bedclothes).
Jim continues his story: “After the first use of Epsom salts, a carbuncle appeared around the toe area, about three inches from the original bite. With the second and following applications of Epsom salts, it ulcerated and began to run. I did the salts and castor oil treatment several times a day, and the zinc oxide at night for three days. The morning after the first day, the swelling abated dramatically. The second morning, I threw away the cane and walked easily. The third day, the foot was normal, the stiffness gone. The healing was complete.”
The most interesting part of the whole story – at least to me was that there is no description in the readings for treating such a spider bite. The doctor developed this highly successful therapy program out of his experience in medical practice and his knowledge of the concepts in the Cayce readings. And the patient, of course, was the beneficiary.
[† May, 1981, Volume 16, No. 3, page 138, Copyright © 1981 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
If memory recalls, Edgar Cayce did give a reading for a small brown spider bite matching the description of a Brown Recluse. What other small brown spider is so poisonous in the US? His recommended treatment was essence of smoke rubbed on the affected area if memory serves.