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Case Studies of Cellulitis Case 1:  65 years old lady, Mrs. V. R. (patient ref no: L6742) was brought to the clinic by her husband for complaints of swelling of both the legs since 3 years. The swelling was more in the lower part of the legs (below the knees) and was more in the left leg. She had recently developed cellulitis on both the legs and there was oozing of pustular discharge from the both the legs. This cellulitis had not been healing for quite some time now and the swelling would be painful. She had taken antibiotics for the cellulitis but it did not respond well to the antibiotics and had become somewhat resistant to treatment. She was a known diabetic since 3 years and was on regular medication for the same. Her blood sugar levels would be on the higher side inspite of being on hypoglycaemic drugs. She was also hypertensive since 3 years. She had numbness on her soles and would get a slippery sensation while walking. This would cause much difficulty while walking and it was compounded by the fact that she was quite obese. She also complained of tingling numbness in both the arms and this was felt more on the right side. She felt weakness in her right hand and her grip was poor as compared to before. She also experienced heaviness of both the arms and could not hold objects in her hands for long. Her MRI of the brain showed that she had bilateral pontine and cerebral lacunar infarcts with minimal per-ventricular white matter ischemia. There was also diffuse cerebral atrophy noted on the MRI. She had normal appetite was a liking for sweets in particular. Her water intake was normal and nature of perspiration was unremarkable. She had no problems with her stools or urination. She had 4 children (3 daughters and 1 son) and all were normal deliveries. Her sleep was good but she would have to wake up frequently at night to pass urine. She stayed with her husband and her daughter; her remaining 2 daughter were married and her son stayed abroad. She described herself as a short-tempered lady and she had become all the more irritable since the onset of her complaints. She hated to be dependent on her others and hence she wanted to get rid of her complaints as soon as possible because due to the swelling of her legs she could not move about without help from someone. She said that she had much lesser confidence in herself due to her complaints. She was very anxious with regard to her health and would also feel depressed due to the same. She was very fastidious and would be very particular about the way she did her work. In the past she had complaints of recurrent headaches and had an attack of angina 10 years back. Her mother and brother were diabetic and her sister was obese. Apart from this there was no history of any other major illness in the family. On examination findings were as follows: :. Weight: 102 kgs. :. BP: 150/100 mm hg Swelling of both legs below the knees, more on the left leg, pitting oedema+ The skin over both the lower legs was discoloured (dark) and there was an erythematous, inflamed patch over the lower portion of the legs with some oozing. There was tenderness ++ of the affected part with warmth ++. All the findings were suggestive of cellulitis in the lymphedematous legs, more on the left side. Based on the above history she was prescribed medication for the cellulitis that she had developed lately. She was explained that the lympheodema may be helped only to a certain extent, in that, the progressive worsening will be controlled. The lymphedematous changes will not revert back to normal, she was informed of this. For her cellulitis, she was prescribed Rhus Toxicodendron 200 to be taken repeatedly. Along with this she was prescribed one of the research remedies (for cellulitis) that have been developed at Lifeforce. Initially, her cellulitis responded well to the treatment but she developed increased pus discharge after a few months due to scratching of the affected parts. Being a diabetic, her cellulitis was very slow to respond to treatment since her blood sugar levels were not well controlled even with medication. She was prescribed Gun powder 30 this time for the infection. The cellulitis gradually started subsiding and the oozing stopped completely. The skin dried up to normal and the texture also reverted back to normal. The skin colour changes (darkening) persisted as these had occurred secondary to lymphedema and were difficult to bring back to normal. But overall she did very well with the medication and her cellulitis that was not responding well to allopathic treatment was controlled very well with homoeopathy. Her diabetes also remained under good control and she also lost 15 kgs of weight that helped her in overall comfort. As seen in the photographs of the patient, the cellulitis has resolved completely. Case 2:  80 year old patient, Mr. K. V. K. (Patient reference number: L8410) reported to the clinic for complaints of swelling of both legs since childhood. He had been diagnosed as Elephantiasis in his childhood. Since the last 5 years, he had been recurrently developing cellulitis of both the lower legs. The cellulitis would remain more or less persistent and it would become more prominent during cold weather and during monsoon. He would develop increased swelling of the legs that would be reddish and painful. The skin of the affected part would start peeling and he would also have some oozing of thin fluid from the affected part. This discharge would be offensive and occasionally it would be blood stained. These complaints would increase every 2-3 months. He would have marked burning of the legs and this would be very troublesome for him. He had been treated with Hetrazan but it had not helped him much. He was a known hypertensive since 15 years and was on regular medication for the same. He was completely deaf from the left ear due to ototoxicity from some drug in childhood. His hearing was reduced to only about 40% in the right ear. He had a normal appetite with aversion to spicy and oily food. His thirst for water was less than average. He had no complaints pertaining to the bowel or bladder functions. He was sensitive to cold climate in general and would prefer to be kept warm. His sleep would be disturbed about twice in the night due to the urge for urination. He was a retired gentleman and stayed with his wife. His only daughter was married and she stayed at her in-laws’ place. It was observed during case taking that he had a very sharp memory for old events, he would distinctly remember events with the specific year in which they occurred. He had a mild nature and would rarely get angry; his temperament would usually remain quite calm. He denied having any stress of any kind and said he would not even worry much about his health. He was very fond of reading books, newspaper, etc. and this would be his favourite pastime. He had suffered from malaria at the age of 17 and apart from this there was no history of any other illness in the past. His mother had suffered from tuberculosis in the past and his brother was hypertensive. Based on the above history, he was prescribed Graphites 200 for his cellulitis. He was informed that the leg swelling that was present due to elephantiasis would not resolve since this was a structural change that was irreversible. About 3 weeks after starting the medication he reported that the burning of the legs was better by 80%. The erythema of legs had improved, so also the discharge from the skin of the legs. His treatment was continued further on similar lines and within 4 months his cellulitis resolved completely. By the time he completed this course, the monsoon had set in full fledged, yet he did not notice any kind of recurrence of his complaints. The burning and the discomfort in the legs were completely gone and he was very much relieved to be free from this complaint that had troubled him constantly for last several years. This case illustrates that homoeopathy has good scope in the treatment of complaints like cellulitis especially in cases where this tends to becomes a recurrent problem. Irreversible structural changes like Elephantiasis may not be helped but in cases where superadded infections are also present, Homoeopathy can definitely help. Click here for more Case Studies |
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