Saturday 20 October 2012

Debilitating Back Pain

A young man came into my practice yesterday. He could hardly walk. His mum had to bring him in as he couldn't drive either. He'd been signed off work as a handyman for almost two months because of "sciatica" by the doctors. He is on heavy pain killers and has seen a chiropractor, but the pain got gradually worse. Another client of mine recommended him to come and see me as I "had sorted him out".
Looking at the poor man when he came into reception I could see that he was all lop-sided which means that his pelvis was "imbalanced". This happens when the head of the thigh bone has jumped out of the hip socket and thus pushes the whole leg down and makes the leg appear longer than the other one.
This oblique pelvic position very often leads to a compression of the sciatic nerve and causes hellish pain.
First, I freed up the sciatic nerve by gently massaging the area where the nerve passes out of the spinal column and made sure that the iliac bones are in line, which already brought some relief.
As he still felt a little bit of discomfort, I inserted four acupuncture needles in the lower back, back of the knee, ankle area of the foot and base of the thumb.
After 20 minutes he was practically pain free and just felt a little tightness in the calf. He said that he hasn't felt that good for the past six months.
I asked him to do the "towel exercise" at home to strengthen the muscles in the lower back and the hip and to prevent the leg from "jumping out" of the hip socket.

I got a huge thumbs-up from his mum when she came to pick him up and saw him walking without pain  ...

Sunday 7 October 2012

Rheumatoid Arthritis and Vitamin D

It is no secret how important Vitamin D is for our health and well-being. This "sunshine vitamin" has not only a positive impact on our immune system and our bones, but can also be a valuable help for those who suffer from depression  (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120625152358.htm).
Scientists have now come to the conclusion that Vitamin D might also help with the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Dr. med. Hans-Eckhard Langer at the Evangelisches Krankenhaus in Düsseldorf has tested blood samples from 641 patients who suffer from Rheumatoid Arthritis. The tests revealed that two thirds of the sufferers were severely deficient in Vitamin D. Specialists have concluded that Vitamin D should be given more significance in prevention and healing of inflammatory and rheumatic illnesses, such as Rheumatoid Arthritis.