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Journal of An Herbalist
By Karima Burns, MH, ND 10/08/2001
Client: Ahmed
Complaint: Digestive problems, intestinal complaints and back pain.
Details:
Ahmed came to me complaining of lower back pain and daily intestinal problems. He often had constipation and was unable to work because of his back pain. He also complained of hair loss.
His Program:
Digestive problems can arise from a number of reasons, and back problems can either be related to digestive problems or can be completely independent. Furthermore, digestive problems can sometimes be caused by back stress, which is why it was so important to find out where Ahmed's problem originated. After asking him a number of questions about lifestyle and diet, we came to the conclusion that his back problem was most likely the result of a repetitive work strain that was worsened by his currently stressful circumstances.
Ahmed had recently lost his job and was working in a temporary one. He was also going through relationship difficulties with his wife and had just moved to a new town far away from his family. His digestive and back problems were most likely a result of this new stress. His hair loss, I guessed, might be a symptom of his digestive problems since his system was not assimilating the minerals and vitamins it needed for strong hair growth.
Since they are the last place to receive nourishment from the blood, the brain (mental faculties) and head (hair and scalp) often show the first signs of a digestive problem marked by absorption or nutrient deficiencies. The nutrients that go into the body are broken down in the intestinal walls and nourishment is taken into the blood stream from there. Unfortunately, the blood running to your head has to pump upwards in order to get there, thus making the head and brain the hardest places for nutrients to reach. So, nutrient deficiencies stemming from intestinal problems will show up there first (in the form of mood swings, irritability and in Ahmed's case, hair loss).
Because of his current lifestyle stresses, I did not want to add any stressful diet or detoxification programs to his daily routine. Instead I opted to start Ahmed on a program that would ease him into any future therapy and provide him with some direct and immediate results. We focused on therapies that would get the blood flowing to his head more readily; allow more nutrients into his system; reduce stress on his body; gently cleanse his colon; and teach his body healthier ways by which to move during repetitive work.
To get more nutrients into his body and increase blood flow to the area, I created a nutrient rich herbal tea for Ahmed that included
ginkgo, an herb used in many traditional cultures to increase blood flow specifically to the head. His herbal tea also included
nettles, which have traditionally been used to enrich and enliven blood. The last herbs I added to his tea were
alfalfa, because it is rich in vitamins and minerals, and hibiscus, which has a high vitamin C content.
Alfalfa is also tonic to the nervous and digestive system.
To teach his body to move in a healthier manner, I showed Ahmed how to perform some simple Feldenkrais exercises. His job was very repetitive and was causing him a great deal of back strain. The Feldenkrais exercises would re-train his back and body muscles to work and move in different ways. These different movements would subtly change the way he moved at work and home and greatly reduce the strain on his back.
The Feldenkrais methods consist of simple exercises that take three to five minutes a few times a day to do. They teach a person's body to re-learn healthier movements. This is especially helpful for people who are subjected to repetitive movements through work and the resulting "avoidance" movements they use to prevent the inevitable pain. To teach Ahmed about these simple exercises, I loaned him the book,
Relaxercises by Robert Reese, which lists many Feldenkrais exercises. I also directed him to a number of websites that list exercises for free and instructed him to choose two or three that were specifically labeled "for back pain":
The Feldenkrais Guild of North America
Lesson #2: Twisting the Spine and Freeing the Lower Back and Shoulders
Feldenkrais Lesson of the Month Index
To further reduce stress on his lower back and lower internal organs, and to improve digestion, I also taught Ahmed how to make a slant board. A slant board is a body-length board that a person lies on for a few minutes a day with their feet up and head down. Dr. Bernard Jensen, DC, discovered the great health effects of slanting in 1933. He discovered that inversion of the body relieves stress and fatigue by taking pressure off the body's organs and allowing them to shift into a more natural placement. This reduces the internal stresses on our bodies, and increases and strengthens our ability to cope with the emotional responses of our bodies to external stresses. Slant boards and variations are often used in physiotherapy at hospitals.
When there is lack of tone in the muscles, we can expect prolepsis of the abdominal organs. The heart, lacking tone, cannot circulate blood properly throughout the body. Likewise, arteries and veins cannot contract and counteract gravity in order to help the blood flow into the brain tissues. There are some people who apparently have tried everything to get well and who still find all organs working under par. Many people do not realize that the quickening force for every organ of the body comes from the brain. People whose occupations require them to sit or stand continually are unable to get the blood into the brain tissues because the tired organs cannot force the blood uphill. If we deny the brain tissues good blood in the proper amount, in time, every organ of our body will suffer. The heart gets its start from the brain and continues its everlasting pumping because of it. No organ can do without the brain.
Last, but certainly not least, I gave Ahmed some formulas to provide him with some immediate relief of his problem.
Bach Flower remedies are often very effective in dealing with immediate emotional issues so I recommended that he take a few drops of
Bach Olive remedy under the tongue a couple times a day. Olive is listed on the
Bach Flower remedy chart as being good for physical and mental exhaustion. I also directed him to a website that listed other emotional remedies in case he wanted to work on some more private issues. Click for a helpful
Bach Flower remedy site.
Aromatherapy is my first choice for immediate relief of physical issues. For back strain and other pains my favorite combination of oils is ten drops of
rosemary, ten drops of pine oil, five drops of eucalyptus and five drops of
ginger mixed into two tablespoons of massage or vegetable oil. This combination, when rubbed on the effected area, provides immediate pain relief and therapeutic benefit to the internal body. This is the formula I gave Ahmed for daily use.
For the physical and emotional stress Ahmed was experiencing, I also made him another aromatherapy formula that he could use in the shower and bath or in a candle. His anti-stress formula was a mixture of five parts
geranium, eleven parts bergamot and ten parts ginger.
For days when he was feeling very irritable, I mixed ten parts of nutmeg, eight drops of sandalwood and twelve drops of
pettigrain in a small vial and instructed him to sniff the mixture through a handkerchief when he needed to calm down.
Ahmed started taking his tea immediately but could not find the Bach Flower remedies, so he had to order them by mail. He also started the exercises and the slant board therapy and used the massage oil for his back every night after work. These efforts helped him to feel so much better that he hardly used the "stress oil" and by the time the
Bach Flower remedies came in the mail he was feeling much better. I instructed him to keep up the efforts for a long enough time that he would not experience a relapse. However, he was feeling confidant and stopped taking his tea after only two weeks. His wife later confided in me that he stopped exercising after three weeks and within four weeks he was feeling worse and using the oil every day just to combat the pain. I instructed Ahmed to be more patient and give his body at least six weeks to make a more permanent change and then ease out of his program by reducing the exercises and tea instead of eliminating them all together. He immediately started to feel better and two years later he still uses the tea, exercises, and uses the oils about twice a year when the problem starts to come back. Although, lately he says he has not seen any sign of the problem at all.
Karima Burns is a naturopath and herbalist. She has published her own newsletter about natural healing for four years and has studied many aspects of natural healing from herbs to homeopathy to aromatherapy for the past 12 years. She is an herbal consultant and teaches people about natural healing from her home in Saudi Arabia. This is a journal of her experiences with her clients.
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