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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. |
