Case Study: Reversing Chronic Pain
Reversing Chronic Pain
A 56-year-old male patient (hereafter called “John” to ensure confidentiality) came in to see Dr. Bhandari with chronic hip pain that severely impacted his right hip for over a decade. John knew how to enjoy himself and had a great work-life balance. He usually drank a few cocktails while cooking and eating lavish dinners every evening, averaging 15 drinks per week. John loved drinking coffee in the morning while taking his beloved dog for walks, and having lunch at his favorite eatery.
Health Concerns
John began feeling hip pain 13 years before he met Dr. Bhandari. The pain was becoming increasingly worse with walking, and prevented John from going on his long morning strolls and weekend hikes. John had self-prescribed himself glucosamine sulfate 3 grams per day to lessen the pain, but it did not seem to help. The pain was starting to interfere with John’s sleep, and prevent deep restorative rest. John had found that the only effective way to decrease the pain was to take edible marijuana at bedtime.
John was becoming increasingly desperate for pain relief, and did not want a hip replacement. His goal was to decrease his pain level to a point where he could comfortably walk his dog and enjoy his upcoming vacation to Barcelona. That is when he took up his therapist’s advice to see Dr. Bhandari at Advanced Health.
What Advanced Health Uncovered
When Dr. Bhandari met John, she found him to be anxious and unable to make good eye contact. He was mildly overweight with an elevated systolic blood pressure. John took slightly shallow breaths causing sub-optimal delivery of oxygen to his extremities. John’s liver was moderately enlarged causing the right side of his back to remaining constant tight, and pull his right hip into excess internal rotation. He was also found to be in a chronic state of mild-to-moderate dehydration with intestinal dysbiosis, and poor production of digestive enzymes. He was unable to properly digest many foods and properly feed his cells. Finally, John rated his pain as a “9,” on a scale of 1 to 10 (1=lowest level of pain, 10=highest level of pain).
John’s blood tests indicated high levels of inflammation throughout his body not balanced by many nutrient deficiencies. He had high concentrations of heavy metal poisoning: arsenic (a.k.a., rat poison), lead, and mercury. These heavy metals were clogging up his liver and depleting him of many essential minerals and nutrients. John’s blood sugar was in a pre-diabetic state from high demands of the stress hormone cortisol and his blood sugar often being elevated.
Dr. Bhandari concluded that John’s right hip pain was caused by a multitude of factors. A tight right flank caused the right hip to be turned into excess internal rotation, and causing the surrounding muscles to remain tight. The tight back was directly tied to chronic liver congestion. The liver was overwhelmed by trying to detoxify too many heavy metals, frequent spikes in blood sugar levels, and not being able to properly digest food.
John’s bones were deteriorating and causing increased hip instability. It was directly tied to his body frequently pulling calcium out of the bones in order to neutralize his chronically acidic blood. His blood remained acidic from John’s acidic diet (i.e., alcohol, caffeine, red meat, fish, poultry, eggs, bread), excess heavy metal exposure (i.e., from animal protein, GMO foods), and insufficient water consumption.
Treatment Plan
Dr. Bhandari advised John to stop taking glucosamine sulfate since it was not helping lessen his pain. She recommend a more effective approach by first focusing on shifting to an alkaline diet so more nutrients would enter the cells and help stabilize the bones of the back, hip and pelvis. Her first recommendation was to stop drinking alcohol and having animal protein for dinner since they were causing the biggest insults to the hip pain and liver damage. Ideally, she wanted John to avoid all animal protein and alcohol going forward since it would accelerate the clearing of heavy metals and directly help the healing process. Dr. Bhandari also requested John stop having coffee in the morning but that was too difficult of a request for John to consider.
John was to incorporate more green vegetables into all of his meals while cutting down on items which overstimulated excess cortisol and histamine production (i.e., eggplant, garlic, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, sugar, bread, GMO items: wheat, corn, soy, and rice). He cooked compliant meals with avocados, small beans, ancient whole grains (i.e., amaranth, quinoa, millet), and mushrooms.
Dr. Bhandari recommended John have 3 warm meals per day, with dinner being the smallest. She wanted John to start night-time fasting in order to accelerate intense repair work while sleeping.
A large component of John’s recovery was sufficient hydration so the joints would become better lubricated. Hydration drinks included:
- 2 to 3 cups of warm water upon awakening (not coffee). Repeat at specific intervals during the day and evening
- a fresh green juice mixed with leafy greens (not spinach), lemon, oil, ¼ to ½ teaspoon of magnesium citrate powder, a tiny pinch of vitamin D3 powder, and 3 full droppers of liquid B12 for detoxification.
- In between meals (no drinks while eating) have warm warm water mixed with added electrolytes such as a tiny pinch of salt and baking soda, ½ teaspoon of the spice turmeric, and ¼ scoop of Inflama-GI.
- A few cups of warm water, Chamomile or Valerian tea mixed with ¼ to ½ teaspoon of Magnesium citrate powder in the evening.
At the same time, John was advised against dehydrating drinks such as sugary drinks, cold drinks, caffeine, alcohol, and carbonated beverages. If he must have caffeine, she advised waiting 2+ hours after breakfast.
Results
John has since eliminated alcohol during the weekdays and is having significantly less animal protein. He is enjoying drinking mostly warm water, fresh green juice, and herbal turmeric tea while having more vegetables. John’s biggest meal is now lunch so he can feel lighter in the evenings. John noticed that the combination of these dietary changes has helped decrease his hip pain in just 4 weeks. The pain has decreased from a “9” to a “3” on a scale of 1 to 10 (1=lowest level of pain, 10=highest level of pain). John’s excess weight had also decreased placing less load on his hips.
During John’s follow-up visits to see Dr. Bhandari, he became increasingly calmer and more confident that hip surgery was no longer his only treatment option. His blood pressure has dropped and he was able to breathe comfortably. Together, John and Dr. Bhandari are now working on decreasing his systemic inflammation with Innate’s Inflama-Complete and Integrative Therapeutics’ KPAX-Mitonutrients. He is also taking Innate’s Innate Detox since one of its main ingredients: the herb milk thistle (Silybum marianum), helps regenerate liver cells. These supplements, coupled with his magnesium and turmeric warm water concoctions, are stimulating blood flow to his hips, and decreasing inflammation.
Dr. Bhandari has helped John decrease his arsenic, lead, and mercury poisoning, improve his liver function, and strengthen his immune system. The inflammation within his blood vessels has persisted. Through healthy dietary changes, John’s body is more effectively digesting food, absorbing essential nutrients, and delivering them to his cells. His storage levels of Vitamin D3 and B vitamins are finally normalizing indicating his blood is becoming more alkaline, and his organs are being better cared for.
Dr. Bhandari has encouraged John to stop alcohol, animal protein, and caffeine all together. He should continue to stay well hydrated, and fast 14 to 16 hours at night. Dr. Bhandari referred John to an acupuncturist, to decrease his lymphatic congestion and hip pain. Together, Dr. Bhandari and the acupuncturist were able to successfully lessen John’s hip pain and prevent him from needing hip surgery. John was thrilled since his orthopedic surgeon and physical therapist) had never been able to drive such quick and positive results in the 13 years he had been working with them.
AUTHOR
Dr. Payal Bhandari M.D. is one of U.S.'s top leading integrative functional medical physicians and the founder of SF Advanced Health. She combines the best in Eastern and Western Medicine to understand the root causes of diseases and provide patients with personalized treatment plans that quickly deliver effective results. Dr. Bhandari specializes in cell function to understand how the whole body works. Dr. Bhandari received her Bachelor of Arts degree in biology in 1997 and Doctor of Medicine degree in 2001 from West Virginia University. She the completed her Family Medicine residency in 2004 from the University of Massachusetts and joined a family medicine practice in 2005 which was eventually nationally recognized as San Francisco’s 1st patient-centered medical home. To learn more, go to www.sfadvancedhealth.com.