Marigold Therapy (Tagetes Patula) for Chronic Fibrous Corns and Callus - A Case Study

This study is part of a continuing search to find a viable alternative to the use of traditional caustic methods of treatment, for patients with painful, plantar callus, particularly where these interventions may be contra-indicated. It seeks to establish whether this homoeopathic therapy may provide an answer for patients with such painful conditions?
There is a dearth of published material concerning homoeopathic therapies, and it may be the lack of a wider evidence base which is the reason for reluctance to investigate such initiatives in podiatric care. Traditional interventions using caustics are not always viable for all patients groups, for example patients with diabetes or who have vascular impairment. This paper intends to share the results of a case study whereby the use of a plant extract, is efficacious in the management of chronic, painful, plantar corns and callus. The use of extracts of Marigold (Tagetes Patula), a plant extract has been used in the management of a variety of cutaneous podiatric pathologies.
Following review of the procedure and clinical review of validated application techniques this is a case study of a patient who had been returning at regular two-to-three week intervals to manage the painful symptoms of chronic fibrous plantar corns. Previous treatments had included a regime of chemical and thermal caustics and new generation silicone based products, all of which had failed to provide any lasting resolution of her symptoms associated with these lesions.
In the search for a clinical resolution for this patient, the application of the homoeopathic regime advocated by Khan (2000) using Marigold therapy was employed. Following each application, the patient reported and recorded a reduction in symptoms of her pain using a standard visual analogue scale; she was able to permit a deeper callus reduction and therefore a more complete local enucleation of the corn. The time intervals between the return of symptoms was also increased over this period of management and the size of the lesion reduced. Following successful application of a regime of Marigold treatments this patient is now pain free.