Using bee stings on the knee joint in the hope of curing rheumatoid arthritis, the patient fell into a state of knee joint necrosis, high fever, and sepsis.
Having a history of rheumatoid arthritis for 20 years, Ms. TTH, 43 years old in Ha Tinh, regularly treats it at home. Recently, she has had a lot of pain in her knees and wrists on both sides.
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| Treating diseases by word of mouth is causing many consequences for people's health. |
Because the treatment did not help, she suddenly stopped taking the medicine and switched to treatment for bee stings in her knee. For a week now, she has had swelling, heat, redness, and severe pain in her right leg and foot.
Following someone's advice, she applied many traditional medicines at home. However, after 4 days, her right leg became swollen, painful, and necrotic, accompanied by a high fever and delirium.
When arriving at the medical facility for treatment, Ms. H. was diagnosed with septicemia and soft tissue inflammation. After a day of treatment, the patient was transferred to the emergency room of the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases in a state of agitation, delirium, and continuous fever; severe swelling, redness, and pain in the right calf; many necrotic pus ulcers on the instep of the right foot; and deformed metacarpophalangeal joints on both sides.
Ms. H. was diagnosed with sepsis-cellulitis of the right foot/rheumatoid arthritis. After being treated with stable indicators at the Emergency and Intensive Care Department, Ms. H. was transferred to the Department of Orthopedic and Spinal Surgery for necrosis debridement surgery.
Doctor Pham Van Tinh, Department of Orthopedic and Spinal Surgery, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases said that after nearly 1 hour, the surgeons focused on removing necrosis and cleaning the cavities in the lower leg.
After surgery, the patient gradually stabilized and regained consciousness. Currently, patient H. is being fitted with a continuous suction system to wait for the wound to stabilize before proceeding with skin grafting from the thigh area down.
Doctor Tinh warned that this is a typical example of self-treatment with unproven methods. The patient had a history of rheumatoid arthritis, especially in both knees, and had been self-treating with corticosteroids for many years without any results. Six years ago, the patient found a method of using bee stings on the feet to treat knee joints on the internet and felt it helped.
More than a month ago, when the pain recurred, the patient continued this treatment method at a traditional healer's house, resulting in numerous bee stings on both knees. After being stung by the bees, the patient experienced prolonged pain and swelling at the sting site, leading to pus in the knee joint, but did not go to the hospital.
The infection spread to the instep of the right foot, causing the patient to fall into a state of pre-coma poisoning and require emergency surgery. This patient's case is also a warning to everyone about accessing unlicensed medical services. Do not arbitrarily use treatment methods without scientific basis.
Also suffering from an accident due to a word-of-mouth treatment, Mr. PVH (62 years old, Ba Ria - Vung Tau) is a proof. Mr. H. has had diabetes for 10 years, and in a motorbike accident, he had two peanut-sized scratches on the top of his left foot. After a few days, the wound oozed fluid and was painful.
Fearing that his leg would be amputated, Mr. H. was introduced by an acquaintance to places that treated him with folk remedies, passed down by word of mouth.
In just 5 weeks, he went to Dong Nai, Lam Dong, Dong Thap, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh City to apply leaves, medicinal powder, oral medicine, topical medicine... but the wound still did not heal, the ulcer spread, became deeper, necrotic, smelled bad, and was black like tar. With increasing anxiety, Mr. H. often suffered from insomnia, loss of appetite, and lost 2kg.
In early July, Mr. H. was taken to the emergency room due to severe leg pain, high fever for many days and he began to fall into a coma. The doctor said he had a serious infection, and if not treated promptly, there was a risk of more severe necrosis leading to amputation (leg amputation due to complications of diabetes).
Mrs. PHL (62 years old, Lam Dong), also had diabetes for many years, recently had a boil on her calf, she used leaves, chewed them and applied them to the boil.
After more than a week, the boil did not get better but got bigger. Ms. L. asked an acquaintance to use a needle to prick the boil and drain the pus, and bought black powder medicine from an acquaintance in the area to apply.
The boil was as small as a corn kernel, gradually swelling to the size of a bowl of rice, the surrounding skin gradually darkening. Mrs. L. often had trouble sleeping due to the pain. After being advised many times by her daughter-in-law, she took a bus to the hospital for a check-up.
Information from Hung Vuong General Hospital said that the facility had just received a stroke patient but was not treated promptly because the family applied ginger juice, then used a needle to prick the patient's fingertips and ears to squeeze out the "toxic blood".
Doctor Tran Van Kien, Head of the Department of Diagnostic Imaging, said that the patient suffered from cerebral infarction, was admitted to the hospital late and was treated incorrectly, leading to a critical condition. The golden time for emergency treatment for stroke patients is within 4.5 hours from the first symptoms.
From the above case, Dr. Tinh recommends that when having health problems, people should go to medical facilities for examination and treatment instead of self-treating at home or using unverified methods.
According to Dr. Lam Van Hoang, Head of the Department of Endocrinology - Diabetes, Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, folk treatment methods such as applying leaves, powdered medicine from leaves or bark, drinking leaves... all have certain effects, but more medical research is needed to clarify which parts of the medicinal plant, what the content is, and how to use it safely. In particular, methods such as using needles to extract pus and cutting are very dangerous for people with diabetes.
Not only that, people with diabetes are also susceptible to infection and take longer to heal than people without the disease, along with factors such as high blood sugar, vascular complications, nerve damage, and skin aging. Folk remedies need to be used with caution, as their effectiveness is unclear and their safety is low.
Source: https://baodautu.vn/bo-thoi-quen-chua-benh-theo-truyen-mieng-d220663.html
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