Case-1: Sixty five years old elderly lady finds complete relief from cellulitis
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.