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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. |
