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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. |
