Podarick

I have a patient who is worried about her sports mad eight-year-old son. He has just been diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatter disease and the GP has told him that he must stop all sports when his knee hurts and take painkillers. My patient was wondering if there is any advice on alternative or natural remedies that are safe for children, and could help with the pain and maybe improve this condition?

Osgood-Schlatter disease or osteochondrosis, is most common in young people around puberty, while joints are still forming, but very rare after the age of 16. In some children the bones of the leg are growing too fast for the tendons that attach muscle to bone to keep up and will likely affect the tibial tuberosity, which can become prominent. It may not be all that common in most young people, but it can happen to active ones. There is no cure, but the symptoms can be managed, which can last a year or more. Young people will find that the disease does go away on its own as they grow up. However, in some rare cases they may have to have surgery to help heal the issues of the disease before adulthood.

The doctor may prescribe painkillers or support tights; in extreme cases, a leg cast, brace, knee support or splint may be used to take the pressure off the affected part of the leg. However, over-the-counter painkillers usually support this disease, which is an inflammatory condition. There are some natural remedies that will help to reduce inflammation and control the pain and swelling associated with the condition. One of the most powerful anti-inflammatory remedies you can use is bromelain (Rathnavelu, Alitheen, Sohila, et al. 2016) an enzyme derived from pineapple stems. Bromelain tablets are safe to give children in correct doses, or by eating the pineapple fruit.

There are other natural painkillers available to help support this condition. These include collagen (Clark, Sebastianelli, Flechsenhar, et al. 2008), dry needling (Hsieh, Kao, Kuan, et al. 2007), eating bone broth, Epsom salts, peppermint oil (Kligler, Benjamin and Sapna Chaudhary. 2007); stretching before any exercise or strenuous activity, and spicy foods that contains the spice Capsaicin (Fattori, Hohmann, Rossaneis, et al 2016).

Send your Nail Clippings to Podarick: email: info@iocp.org.uk

Clark KL, Sebastianelli W, Flechsenhar KR, Aukermann DF, Meza F, Millard RL, Deitch JR, Sherbondy PS, Albert A. 24-Week study on the use of collagen hydrolysate as a dietary supplement in athletes with activity-related joint pain. Curr Med Res Opin. 2008 May;24(5):1485-96. doi: 10.1185/030079908x291967. Epub 2008 Apr 15. PMID: 18416885.

Fattori, V, Hohmann, M.S.N, Rossaneis, A.C, Pinho-Ribeiro, F.A, Verri, W.A. Capsaicin: Current Understanding of Its Mechanisms and Therapy of Pain and Other Pre-Clinical and Clinical Uses. Molecules 2016, 21, 844. https://doi.org/10.3390/ molecules21070844

Hsieh YL, Kao MJ, Kuan TS, Chen SM, Chen JT, Hong CZ. Dry needling to a key myofascial trigger point may reduce the irritability of satellite MTrPs. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2007 May;86(5):397-403. doi: 10.1097/ PHM.0b013e31804a554d. PMID: 17449984.

Kligler, Benjamin and Sapna Chaudhary. “Peppermint oil.” Reactions 178 (2007): 9.

Rathnavelu V, Alitheen NB, Sohila S, Kanagesan S, Ramesh R. Potential role of bromelain in clinical and therapeutic applications. Biomed Rep. 2016 Sep;5(3):283-288. doi: 10.3892/br.2016.720. Epub 2016 Jul 18. PMID: 27602208; PMCID: PMC4998156. Working in Partnership Invite you to join us for our first annual Conference Day

Holiday Inn Rotherham/Sheffield M1, JCT.33 West Bawtry Road, Moorgate, Rotherham S60 2XL

(pp + booking fee) O. Frankowski N. O’Brian

(Any profits to be donated to Servatius Healthcare CIC - notfor-profit company who provide free at point of need foot care and personal services)

Any dietary requirements or queries please contact: servatiuscic@gmail.com