As the subject heading says I need help for my Mother.

She has been a wonderfully fit and healthy person all her life (although she has had some very traumatic emotional experiences). She is 70 and her name is Hilary, and she has been looking forward to grandchildren almost since I was born!!
I've finally got two lovely children but now Mummy has problems with her knees and may not be able to be the sort of Granny she's always wanted to be. In fact this news has taken its toll mentally, and may do worse.

I am studying homoeopathy and have pushed her off (willingly) to one who says she can only palliate her ss. I would like to know if "you" think this to be true or should we go in search of another Hom?

The allopathic diagnosis is as follows:
"There is a dense 1cm wide opacity adjacent to the lateral border of the R patella that is apparently mobile and may present a loose body within the supra patella bursa.
The medial compartments of both knees are narrowed and both patella femoral joints show minor degenerative change.
The bony spur is noted on the lateral border of the L patella.
Bone texture is normal."

My mother is in considerable pain at times esp. in R knee. She was hit with a lacross stick on that knee when 14, apart from the immediate pain she suffered, she never had any problems and was subsequently careful with her knees all her life. The loose body pops back in from time to time and gives her relief, but she never knows when it will return to make her fall to the ground once again in agony, leading to nervousness and a loss of confidence that she hides well. I live in Amsterdam, she in UK. Mummy lives for my family and I'm afraid this will cause her to whither away if it persists.

She began constitutional treatment two years ago with another Hom whose practice was too far away, but it began to make her revisit feelings she'd rather forget (deaths of her Father, husband and son), so she stopped.

Would she have to go through constitutional treatment to eventually combat this knee thing or can we treat it Hom/y and see an end to it?
She is strong (and opinionated) but sensitive and very loving - once you're family you're family and she's a lioness for your protection. She deserves, after all her hardship, to enjoy her grandchildren. I'm desperate to help her. I know she is older now, but she is not elderly, there will be some wear and tear on her knees but can Hom/y help? i don't want to palliate as I'm afraid this will lead to suppression etc

I should add that operations have been mentioned. My mother has been known to try to hit a dental surgeon whilst under oral sedation when he tried to inject her for dental surgery!! Her fear of needles and being cut is so terrifically strong - she's never been injected with anything. She says she'd rather die! So the chances of knee surgery are very slim and I don't want her to have gas and air to go under = too risky at her age, although her heart is strong. Surgery might also start her off on a slippery slope to more and more surgery etc etc.

HELP! Any ideas or thoughts.
She lives in Guildford, Surrey, UK.
Anyone know a Homoeopath's Homoeopath in the area?
She can't drive too far these days and walking is fairly painful.

Yours gratefully in anticipation.
Serena

Hi,

Constitutional treatment would go a long way to solving a lot of the problems for your mother--but she has to deal with old stuff she's been suppressing. Healing can't take place in any form of treatment unless all this stuff is dealt with and resolved. Just palliating the pain will make things worse--whether you use homeopathic remedies to do this, or surgery, or painkillers like NSAIDs or steroids.

Personally, even though there does seem to be a little bit of damage to the actual knee you speak of, I am encouraged by the fact that you say the "loose body" actually seems to pop into place every now and then--and when that happens your mother experiences relief. This indicates to me that the pain can be relieved in your mother's case--that it is possible to restore the knee to better function. I hope you can encourage your mother to reconsider the constitutional treatment, and to work closely with her homeopath so that she has some support during those points in her treatment where she needs some courage to confront some past issues.

Divina

__________________
...and deliverance has many faces<br />but grace<br />is an aquaintance of mine

Is Leighton Buzzard too far for her? (the walk from the train station is less than 4 minutes to the homeopath's place)

Email me if you need a referral . (she is very experienced - more than most that are practising today - and could definitely take good care of your Mother!!)

__________________
"The significance of a fact is measured by the capacity of the observer."
Carroll Dunham

are you also considering other factors in her general state of health?

my mother was scheduled to have both of her knees completely replaced 4 months ago, i begged her to try a nutritional protocol that i laid out for her to remove toxins from her body, and take a few vitamin and mineral supplements as well as doing any form of gentle exercise and stretching she found possible.

after 6 weeks the doctors decided she had improved enough to call off the operation, and while she still suffers some mild pain and stiffness, it is still improving everyday. she now works out every other day at a community gym, and lifts weights too!

maybe if your mother has room to improve in any of these factors, then the addition of homeopathic treatment would be duly helpful!

best wishes of health and recovery,
j. manfra

Hi Serena,

This case seems very curable, since, as you say, from time to time that thing that is loose pops back into place. I hope one of the homeopathic medical doctors on our BB sees your post because I feel that the correct medical/disease rubric has to be pin-pointed in order to know which group of remedies is appropriate here. It may very simply be that we need to find the proper injury/trauma remedy in this case.

Here's a rubric, for example--Knees, exostoses, patella-calc-f. is the only remedy.

Symphytum is listed under Knees, injuries and, of course, the native Americans called Symphytum "knit bone" because of it's great ability in this area.

Ruta is known for the knees giving out, causing the person to fall down, so should definitely be considered here.

Then, we do need the usual information--the kind of pain: shooting, sore, stiffness, tearing, sprained, sharp, etc.; where does the pain extend to; what makes it better or worse, such as cold or warm applications, motion, rest, postition, massage, light touch, etc.--and any peculiar symptoms you can think of.

Your mother's extreme fear of needles makes me think of silica, but nat-m. is also in that rubric and you said she's had a lot of griefs in her life; nat-m being one of our main grief remedies. She need not, by the way, relive all her old traumatic experiences if the constitutional remedy is given in low daily doses
instead of one dose high.

I think Dr. Bhatia or Dr. Leela can be a real help to you with their medical background; so, if they don't respond here, you could e-mail them or
start a new topic: "Dr. Leela/Dr. B Please Help"
and direct them to this thread.

Good luck,
Snoopy

Thank you all for your kind help.

Hello Serena,
--------------------------------------------
The allopathic diagnosis is as follows:
"There is a dense 1cm wide opacity adjacent to the lateral border of the R patella that is apparently mobile and may present a loose body within the supra patella bursa.
The medial compartments of both knees are narrowed and both patella femoral joints show minor degenerative change.
The bony spur is noted on the lateral border of the L patella.
Bone texture is normal."

--------------------------------------------------

The bony spur and the narrowing of both med compartments are normal senile changes, commonly found, esp in women.
There can be 2 causes for the dense opacity--since its mobile, it can't be in the ligaments aroung the knee, it has to be in the bursa or the synovial fluid. Bursa are the lubricating mechanisms around the joints. They often become chronically inflamed esp in woman(housemaids knee). If this inflmatory process leads to calcification it may or may not be mobile. Another possibility could be of a loose bone chip in the synovial fluid. This might have resulted from the injury at 14 or sometimes even new bone formation can occour without any known cause.

In any case if u concider the 'calcified body' as the 'cause' of pain then as suggested by Snoopy, Cal-flour is a very good medicine for that. If we consider traumatic origin of that chip, then the constitutional medicine may not act on that local pathology. And u will have to resort to using tissue specific or etiology based medicines.
But there is one medicine which has the potential to cover the 'person' as well as her local complaints -- Natrum silicoflouricum - not well proved, so I cannot give the details. But while reading ur mothers temprament, I thought of a Natrum. and the medicine is also known to act on bone tissue. U can give it a try.

__________________
Dr. B<br /><br /><a href="http://www.doctorbhatia.com" target="_blank">www.DoctorBhatia.com</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.hpathy.com" target="_blank">www.Hpathy.com</a><br />Homeopathy for Everyone

Dear Serena,

I think your mom is suffering form Osteoarthritis.But You have not given us any acute modalities of her pain and symptoms to confirm this. She should do regular exercises on her knees (learn them from a physiotherapist) and find out whether hot fomentations help her. The idea is the strengthen the muscles around the knees. She could also wear a crepe bandage on the painful knee whenever she has to walk and travel distances.

In my experience, palliative remedies in homoeopathy have helped osteoarthritis pain to a certain extent as long as they are being taken regularly.

What really helps though, is the constitutional. But I think you're mom is not ready for the emotional upheavals, though if the potency is good, this should not happen. It is important to know whether the remedy she took was actualy the constitutional.

I find that both calc Fluor and Nat SilicoFlourum (which may be her constitutional) are good suggestions, and for the moment at least I would be very comfortable if she started
Calc Fluor 6X 3 pills 3 times a day and continued it for at least 2-3 months.

I would like to know here proper homoeopathic bhistory and find the correct remedy and potency to help her out.

Warm regards,
doctorleela

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http://www.homeopathy2health.com

Hi Serena, I have sent you an email with a "Homeopath's Homeopath" contact details.

As suggested by Divina, the best thing is for your Mother to see someone in person. I can't imagine treating her over the internet - not at her age and without your immediate support nearby.

So, if it is possible to get her to the Homeopath for the initial consult - then that is half the battle - because she can easily follow up AS NEEDED by phone calls .

Take care and I hope you get her sorted ,
Lisa

(PS I'm in no way knocking the help available here. But, if one has the means to see a Homeopath in person then that route ought to be taken....I see this BB more as a last resort for people who are literally without a hope of finding a Homeopath. Also, there is no accountability here as there is and would be with a face-to-face consultation )

__________________
"The significance of a fact is measured by the capacity of the observer."
Carroll Dunham

Serena,

Generally, I never been remained interested in prescribing remedies on discussion board. But keeping in your mother illness. I want to write here my clinical experience about knee / joint pain.

It is very difficult to treat PAIN (any kind) through homeopathy. If you could select a right remedy according to the patient / disease. Then homeopathy will act like miracle.

In your mother condition. I will not recommend for the time being any constitutional treatment. But I will recommend palliative treatment. Which is not homepathy but will certainly give your mother releif within hours.

GUAICUM MOTHER TINCTURE 20 DROPS IN WARM WATER AFTER EVERY 3 HOURS AFTER HALF AN HOUR OF MEAL.

Complete bed rest.

Warap the knee with warm clothes.

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Hafeez
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