PARTIAL PARALYSIS

Partial paralysis is characterised by loss of movement or sensation in affected muscles or muscle groups. For example, the patient can often move one limb more than another, they may have more function on one side than the other, or they might have some sensation in parts of the body that can’t be moved. Partial paralysis may be caused by accident or trauma, stroke, illness or disease such as multiple sclerosis. Treatment is designed to return as much function as possible to the patient, while also helping him/her to learn to cope more effectively with any long-term disability.

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I

HELENE 2018

Quadriplegic

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HELENE 2020

Quadriplegic

I

AJEETDEV

Partial paralysis

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DEV

TN and MS

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WILLIAM

Partial paralysis

Helene, 47, Reunion Island

Quadraplegic (80% paralysis)

Helene returned for her third season in Goa this year.

HELENE, 45, REUNION ISLAND

QUADRAPLEGIC – 80% PARALYSIS

Helene had a serious car accident 15 years ago. She sustained a cervical spinal cord injury that left her paralysed with no feeling from the chest down. Helene’s journey is one of great courage and determination. After this season of working every day with the team, she now has feeling all over her body. She is able to move her feet, and she’s now beginning an exercise regime to build muscle in her legs, stomach and spine. Helene has completed four months of treatment. She will continue her programme back home and return next season for further consultation and treatment, as required.

After 10 years in India, trying Ayurvedic therapies and various other wellbeing treatments, including yoga, I was never successful in finding a therapist until I met Ringo. He said let’s try to work with your skeleton and muscle by doing exercise. I was very happy to find someone who had the same mentality as me, who also felt that I could improve. I never believed I would ever do what I have done since being with the clinic. I have advanced so much in 4 months, which is such a short time. I have even been able to stand up. This amazing progress has given me the hope and drive to try and walk again with Ringo’s help. As a result I plan to return to spend more time with Ringo and his team to continue the hard work. I have also been given great advice on plants to take as medicine, my diet, how to manage myself and my approach to life. For example it was suggested to cut my hair, which I did and with all these things together I feel very new, like I have had a rebirth into my life and there’s been a transformation in my body and brain.

The team at the clinic are very sweet and attentive. Having such a disability and sickness I generally find treatments stressful yet the process with them has been very relaxed and calm and I am so thankful for this. I also see the powerful work they do with others at the clinic and this is also moving and inspirational for me. I have come to love the family from Manipur and Miranda, the Manipuri way of life, culture. It is very rich. I hope they are able to develop the clinic further.

Merci merci beaucoup.

AJEETDEV, 41, DENMARK

PARTIAL PARALYSIS AFFECTING UPPER AND LOWER BODY

Ajeetdev had been paraylsed from the waist down for 18 years. She was involved in a road traffic incident that ultimately led to her disability. She had full feeling but was unable to walk. Ajeetdev was in treatment for three months. She regained the use of her legs within the first month.

Dear Ringo, Miranda and Team! What an adventure. My heart and soul is full of gratitude. As everybody can imagine, living in a wheelchair and 18 years of sitting is a big thing to change, even when ready. It has been and is such a blessing to return to BBC a year after you helped me to my first steps after so many years in a wheelchair. It is an amazing blessing to see and feel the progress. I deeply appreciate the all-round support you have given to make it possible now. Your love for humanity and the help you give using your unique skills are divine.

In gratitude. Blessing and so much love to you.

Dev, 66, India

Trigeminal neuralgia and multiple sclerosis

Air Vice Marshall Dev Ganesh (Retired) came to the Bone and Body Clinic suffering from severe pain in his face. The pain had frequently not allowed him to sleep for any period of time or eat anything solid for the past 7 years. Dev was also unable to walk without assistance and a stick and he was diagnosed with MS. Dev has received treatment this season for a total of 8 weeks.

I was diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia (or ‘TN’) in September 2010, and for more than 7 years suffered excruciating jaw pain for which there is no known cure. The slightest of stimuli such as a sudden head movement, looking down or a slight gust of breeze on the face triggered sudden, violent attacks of pain of unimaginably severe intensity. With the dubious distinction of being the most painful of all diseases (google ‘suicide disease’ for more details), TN left little room in my life for anything but pain management, to the extent that I ignored the MS I had also been diagnosed with. I avoided most social interactions, till as a last resort I came to Bone and Body Clinic, desperate to try anything to rid me of this malady. Within the first few meetings, Ringo, purely by visual assessment, surmised that my jaw was not only misaligned but dislocated, causing the pain which presented itself as TN. Within 3 weeks, he had, by three deft manipulations of my jaw, lasting a few seconds each, reduced the pain by 95%!

I feel I’ve got my life back again and am able to travel, speak normally, laugh, sip a hot coffee or a cold beer, all activities which for the past few years were unthinkable! My deepest gratitude to Ringo and his team at the Bone and Body Clinic for getting my life back on track again. My treatment for the so-called MS is continuing, and I have already discarded my foot brace and have started walking without my crutch, albeit with some assistance. I am confident of good results in this area as well.

WILLIAM, 57, USA

PARTIAL PARALYSIS OF THE LOWER BODY

William suffers from scoliosis in an S-shaped curve. A tumour was then discovered in his lower thoracic spine, which was subsequently removed. After a period of rehabilitation, William began doing yoga again and unfortunately fractured his lower thoracic spine. Over the past 15 years he has fought courageously to keep walking and moving. As a result, he has further deformed his hip positioning; and while he has built some extremely strong muscles, others have completely degenerated. William’s initial treatment was for a four-month period. After returning to the U.S., he continued to do his daily rehab programme. He returned to India for the second stage of his treatment for another four months.

Western medicine and therapy had failed me for 13 years. I came to Goa with only an idea that possibly these people could help me in some way. But I didn’t know how. When I first attended the Bone and Body Clinic I was immediately welcomed in and made to feel very comfortable and a part of their process. Miranda was like a “mother hen,” always making sure things were ok, offering tea and informing me of what the week ahead would look like and what to expect. Ringo was always concerned with my wellbeing, and with his precision and bag of tricks he was always able to maneuver around a tricky situation. The rest of the technicians and staff were extremely gentle (ha ha ha), professional and always willing to assist where needed. My situation is extreme, and I allowed Ringo the freedom to decide the protocol; and I willingly did anything he asked. The intensity of the therapies was sometimes beyond my wildest imagination but I stuck with the program, and what we accomplished in the four months is nothing short of a miracle: alignment problems are gone; bone displacements are back in place. Muscular malformations we’re still working on, but my muscles are much more useful and aligned with the skeleton structure. I still have a long way to go but the degree of professionalism, and the effectiveness of a methodology that works in the moment with what my body can handle, not to mention the overall support the team offered was beyond any expectation I came with. Their love, enthusiasm and dedication to making me better have renewed my hope that I can overcome this physical hardship and enjoy the journey ahead.