Holistic Orthopedics- Part 1
By Dr. Aparna Bapat
When we go to a specialist doctor like an Orthopedic Surgeon, they only treat our problems in our bones, Joints, cartilage, muscles and ligaments. They are very skilled to treat arthritis, fractures and other bone and joint diseases with medications, injections, and surgery. In modern advanced medical approach, doctors are specialized and super specialized in various things but they tend to lose their focus on the whole body and whole person.
But when you go to a holistic Orthopedic office, you can get a very different perspective and approach for your bone and joint problems. A holistic practice is going to consider the whole body- mind connections, food habits, lifestyle, environment, work and stress and connect all the dots to your bone and joint health and healing.
According to ‘Ayurveda’- holistic natural medicine science, our digestion and metabolism creates and grows our bone tissue with diet rich in calcium, phosphorous, vitamin D, collagen and other bone supporting nutrients. According to Ayurveda, the sub tissues or biproducts of bone tissue metabolism are teeth, cartilage, hair and nails. Whenever there is a problem in these, we can know there is something wrong deeper into the bones and joints and vice versa.
Signs and Symptoms of Bone tissue problems can be seen through sub tissues and mind:
Teeth- Undernourished bone tissue makes weak teeth that easily break, more dental cavities, receding gums, tiny teeth, spurs and sensitive teeth.
Hair-Hair fall and dry sparse hair, split ends, rough hair and lack shine, unmanaged frizz and dandruff.
Nails- Ridges, lines and white spots on nails, thin easy breaking nails, thin and peeling cuticles, fungal toenails, callouses.
Skin- Thin, dry, flaky skin with excess exfoliation, loose and wrinkled skin, white spots on skin, delayed wound healing and delayed scab formation and skin regeneration.
Mind- The skeleton and backbone is the foundation on which all the muscles, blood vessels, nerves are plastered and layered on. If the foundation is weak the strength of body reduces and mind feels unstable, weaker, indecisive, forgetful and lacking in confidence. It also creates fear, doubts and dependency and the person can get depressed.
In the next part we will look at the causes of inflammatory and degenerative conditions related to bones and joints and their natural remedies.
