Doctor, I don’t know what has happened to my shoulders. They ache a lot and the ache is gradually increasing. I cannot move them properly. It is becoming impossible for me to put on my clothes myself. Even combing has to be done by somebody else. The pain persists during the day, but at night it becomes worse. If somebody presses my shoulder joint, I get an excruciating pain. I have had all kinds of treatment but nothing seems to be helping me. Can you do something?The above symptoms seemed to point towards a frozen shoulder. This condition can be diagnosed easily. The shoulder joint is frozen and its mobility reduced. Before we go further let us examine what our shoulder joints are and what they do.
Osteopathy: Case Histories in Treatment for Low Back Pain, Lumbago and Sciatica
During a series of test matches played between India and the MCC, the opening batsman was found to be suffering from back pain on the first day of the first test match. As a result, he could not play in the match. He thought that the pain was due to sleeping in an air-conditioned room. His pain persisted in spite of the best possible treatment. All possible investigations were done and X-rays taken. Finally he was diagnosed as having a slipped disc of the lumbar spine, and advised complete bedrest for three weeks.
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Osteopathy: Relieving Knee Pain
Young or old, athletes or sedentary workers – most people get knee pain at some time or other. An old lady went crying to the doctor: ‘I cannot walk, even walking in the house hurts me. I do not want to be crippled and dependent for little things on my children.’ Old age and knee pain are almost synonymous.
A young footballer trying to kick the ball, fell down, but rose up and collecting all his courage, continued with the game. The next day, he had a big swelling over the knee and a lot of pain. He hobbled to the clinic with the help of a friend, was treated and asked to spend a few days in bed. For several weeks he limped in great discomfort. The pain and swelling gradually subsided. A few months later he complained of pain in the knee whenever he exerted it.
Osteopathy: Curing Wrist and Hand Pain
In most cases of pain in the wrist and hand, cervical manipulation is the treatment of choice. Patients respond rapidly to the treatment and all symptoms disappear within two or three weeks.
Pain in the wrist and hand may be due to varied factors. These may be :
A mechanical disturbance in the cervical spine.
Pressure on the median nerve as it passes in front of the wrist between the tunnel formed by the small bones of the wrist called carpal bones.
Arthritis of the wrist joint.
Post-traumatic or following the union of fractured bones of the wrist and hand.
Osteopathy: Curing Elbow Pain
A patient may complain that he cannot pour a cup of tea for himself. He experiences difficulty in closing his fist tightly, or while grabbing and lifting heavy things from the ground with his hands. He has pain on the lateral aspect of the elbow at a prominent point called the lateral condyl of the humerus or arm bone. The pain travels along the back of the forearm and may go as far as the wrist or the back of the hand as far as the ring finger of the hand. It may be severe enough to go to the external aspect of the arm up to the shoulder, but this is less common. Sometimes, there is a constant ache, which gets worse at night, disturbing the sleep. The patient may wake up with stiffness of the elbow.
Osteopathy: Relieving Old Age Problems
A few old-age symptoms respond well to manipulate therapy. Persons of fifty years of age and over experience some stiffness of the cervical spine. They feel disturbed while sleeping, putting the blame on the faulty position of their sleeping pillow or prolonged fatigue. Sometimes a little disturbance is sufficient to bring about a headache. It may be caused by bad posture or a wrong way of doing work or inactivity. Relief is felt by taking a painkiller or by applying warm water to the upper back. Such people find difficulty in balancing themselves, and are afraid of crossing the road on their own.
Osteopathy: Curing Leg, Ankle and Foot Pain
I was working as the Registrar in the Emergency Department of the Southend-on-Sea General Hospital in England, when one morning, I received a phone call from a local practitioner. He told me that his wife had slipped and sprained her ankle while descending the steps at home, and he wanted her ankle while descending the steps at home, and he wanted me to examine her. She came to my department with a limp. She was not able to put complete pressure on her affected foot. It was swollen and it appeared that she was in terrible pain.
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Osteopathy: Diet, Hydrotherapy and Yoga
Why do we ask gout patients to abstain from meat and alcoholic drinks? Why do we experience relief in knee pain when our bowels move well? Why is smoking prohibited in cases of intermittent claudication (cramping pain in the leg caused by arterial obstruction) and coronary heart disease?
There is no controversy about the fact that the body has its own resistance, and it fights against all diseases. Why then do we not adopt methods and means to increase the body’s own resistance? There is much abuse of drugs. Patients suffering from pain for years are put on strong, stronger and the strongest drugs till they fall victim to him. They experience many side-effects such as a peptic ulcer, gastritis, and deteriorated liver and kidney function.
Aromatherapy: Introduction to Aromatherapy
With the increasing interest in the natural arts and sciences, many have found a keen attraction to the workings of fragrance. There have been untold volumes published on the healing applications of scent, yet the magickal applications have been less celebrated. This is unfortunate, for two reasons. First, the magickal applications of aromatherapy—existing since before recorded history in the sacred rites of our ancestors, who burned herbs and essences to their deities—in many ways may have been the foundation of the rich healing practices of the modern-day aromatherapist. We can only expand our understanding of the art if we remember its roots. Secondly, and perhaps even more importantly, is the fact that the magickal practice of aromatherapy is inseparable from the therapeutic. The treatment of mind and spirit is a key concern of magickal endeavor. In treating many ailments, the healer has discovered that the mind and spirit of the client colors the effectiveness of a given remedy.
Aromatherapy: What is Aromatherapy?
Long ago, when humankind struggled through a strange world in ignorance, there was no true science—perhaps, in those days of darkness, there was no true knowledge either. The races of people were as children upon the earth, struggling to make their way through each successive day to see the dawning of just one more sun. It was in this time that superstition gripped the minds of civilized beings, when popular belief stood in the place that was to be reserved for science and art as the wheel of time progressed.