Homeopathy Plus!
Ron's Case of Osteomyelitis
In this case, you will read how homeopathic medicine was used to aid the exceptional recovery of a man who had endured prolonged suffering from a rather unpleasant condition.
At 63 years old, Ron had been battling a condition known as osteomyelitis for the past 19 years. Osteomyelitis is an infection in a bone (or bones) of the body and usually occurs when infection is introduced to the bone during injury or surgery. In Ron's case, his problems began following a motor vehicle accident 19 years earlier, in which he fractured ribs, right arm, and shattered his left thigh bone (femur).
The symptoms of osteomyelitis include bone pain, muscle spasm, fever, and discharges. The pus will discharge through a sinus (a narrow opening to the skin surface) and will frequently contain slivers of dead bone fragments. The sinus will close over after discharging but another buildup of pus will cause it to reopen and discharge again. Conventional medical treatment involves prolonged intravenous antibiotics and bedrest. Surgery may be necessary to scrape away and remove dead bone, tissue and pus.
Osteomyelitis can be difficult to treat. Bone has a limited blood supply compared to other body tissues making it difficult to get antibiotics to the source of the infection. As a result, osteomyelitis can be a severe condition, which lasts for many years, even a lifetime.
During the surgery that followed Ron's accident, his femur was rejoined by a strip of metal and screws (pin and plate) to help regrow new bone and repair the fracture. A week later, however, Ron developed a fever and increasing leg pain. His doctors ordered a scan which showed that he had developed osteomyelitis - the infection had entered his bone at the time of surgery. Ron was immediately started on intravenous antibiotics. The pin and plate, now acting as a safe haven for the bacteria, had to be removed.
In the period following his infection, Ron underwent nine separate operations on his leg and femur. On each occasion, dead flesh and bone tissue had to be scraped away and intravenous antibiotics commenced. For Ron, this involved pain, lengthy stays in hospital, and disruption to his work and family. His femur also refractured at one stage because ongoing infection had so weakened the bone. Surprisingly, even after years of suffering, Ron continued to remain upbeat and optimistic.
At the time of Ron's first homeopathic consultation, he had just finished another round of antibiotics, given intravenously at home by a community nurse. Though the antibiotics were meant to be long-term, they had to be suspended because of the damage they were doing to his liver. When I first saw Ron, he was walking with a limp and still had two sinuses in his thigh that were discharging a watery grey fluid. He told me that sometimes small bone fragments came out with the discharge.
During the consultation, other symptoms emerged that, when pieced together, led to the homeopathic remedy I would have to prescribe to trigger a healing response in Ron. Ron frequently experienced heartburn following his evening meal and hot flushes rising to his head that would cause him to perspire. His feet would also become so hot at night on going to bed that he would poke them out from under the bed covers to cool them. He complained of episodes of numbness in his right hand that had been put down to ligament damage from his accident. Sleeplessness was also a problem. He would get up for several hours each night and eat from hunger. He enjoyed his beer, disliked cats, and avoided fans and drafts. Based on this combination of symptoms, I prescribed the homeopathic remedy Sulphur. As we will see, it led to a remarkable improvement in Ron's health.
Two weeks later, Ron arrived at his first follow-up appointment with a smile on his face. For first time in 19 years he was pain-free and walking without a limp! His discharge had significantly reduced and there had been a 60% improvement in his sleeplessness. The numbness in his hand was occurring less frequently and for shorter periods of time and his heartburn was greatly improved. For the first time in years, he felt well.
Ron continued to improve over following appointments. His heartburn, numbness and insomnia ceased completely, while the discharge from his thigh improved at a slower pace. It was a happy day when six months later, Ron was given a clean bill of health by his specialist and GP. As he said to me at his final appointment, "Time for a holiday and back to the fishing."
There are many remedies in the homoepathic materia medica that are useful in the treatment of osteomyelitis, each according to their own symptom complex. Ron had a Sulphur symptom complex, whereas another person with osteomyelitis may have a complex that indicates a different remedy. As is the case with homeopathy, one remedy will not do the work of another. While homeopathy has a long and extensive history of successfully treating osteomyelitis, the speed of Ron's initial improvement was exceptional and was a measure of the strength of his underlying vitality. Those with a weaker vitality will have a more gradual improvement.
Sulphur
The homeopathic preparation of Sulphur is one of homeopathy's biggest "polycrests". This means, it is able to treat a wide range of symptoms and conditions over a wide range of people.People in a Sulphur "state" will generally be one of two types - the philosophical thinker, who is so engrossed with his own thoughts that he loses touch with day to day affairs, or the practical idealist who is enthusiastic and generous, interested in interacting with others. Ron's personality included many of these latter traits. Those in a Sulphur state can develop virtually any physical illness. They are usually warm-blooded and can experience surges of heat to either head or feet. They may sweat excessively, develop "weekend" headaches and can be prone to conjunctivitis that feels as though there are grains of sand in their eyes. Their eyes will often be red-rimmed and skin eruptions will be itchy. Sulphur "types" tend to skip breakfast, suddenly becoming hungry at 11am and, as in Ron's case, they can develop hunger in the middle of the night. Diarrhoea is a frequent symptom, especially first thing in the morning, and anal itching can be a problem. A love of beer is common, as is a dislike of cats, and those needing Sulphur will often be sensitive to and complain about drafts - just like our Ron!