TUESDAY 21 DECEMBER 2010 BOMBAY TIMES, THE TIMES OF INDIA

VARIETY 9

Homeopathy eases
gout pains effectively
o you have pain in the pain is so agonising that the

D big toe that feels like a person cannot bear touch, or

ball of fire with each movement. The pain tends to
stride you take? Look out — get worse at every change of
it could be gout. Gout is one weather, or in cold, damp
of the oldest and most com- weather, especially evening
mon forms of arthritis. Its or night. Another equally
primary symptoms are sud- useful remedy is Ledum Pal.
den onset of pain with sensi- It eases gouty pains that
tivity of the affected joint, “shoot” through the foot,
most often the big toe. It may limbs and joints — primarily
also affect the knee, ankle, in the small joints — relieved
foot, hand, wrist and fingers. by cold applications.
The sequence is dis- Your homeopath-
tinctive — gout first ic doctor will select
begins with acute HEAL WITH remedies, according
pain. As the condi- HOMEOPATHY to the overall pres-
tion progresses, the entation of the
joints get inflamed, problem, the indi-
swollen, warm and vidual’s lifestyle,
sensitive to touch. mental and emo-
Long-term, uncon- tional states, stress
trolled gout can levels, diet and fami-
cause joint damage. ly history. This pro-
Gout often affects
Dr Mukesh Batra vides more than just
people who love too symptomatic relief
much of rich food in gout; it helps to
and alcohol; nonetheless, it eliminate the possibility of
can affect all age-groups. The recurrent or potential pain.
disorder occurs when there Homeopathy stimulates the
is too much of uric acid in body’s internal resources; it
the blood, tissues and urine. restores balance, rather than
As a result, uric acid accu- just control symptoms. It is
mulates in the blood and tis- also suggested that homeo-
sues. It eventually crystallis- pathic medicines provide
es, the basis of gout. holistic support to the con-
Homeopathic treatment is nective tissues, affected by
individualised. No two per- excess deposition of uric
sons with gout present with acid, the cause of gout.
the same symptoms, because For inquiries you can:
each is uniquely influenced Call: 022-66789899;
in health and illness. This is Toll-free: 1800-209-6767;
reason why each individual SMS: DB to 9757070707; or Log on
is presczribed a different to: www.drbatras.com.
homeopathic remedy that Write to drbatra@drbatras.com
for health queries.
matches their symptom pic- Suggested remedies are indicative.
ture. The homeopathic reme- To be taken under competent med-
dy, Colchicum, for instance, ical supervision only. For more
is useful in gouty conditions articles by Dr. Mukesh Batra,
of the big toe, accompanied check the Press section on
by tummy problems. The www.drbatras.com

SLEEPLESS IN
MUMBAI?
Thinkstock Photos/ Getty Images

Here’s how you

can beat
insomnia
SLEEP TIGHT: Ensure that
your surroundings are
comfortable

here can be various rea-

T sons why you aren’t get-

ting sleep every night.
Insomnia can be an irksome
problem, which can be dealt
with by making certain
lifestyle changes.

◆ Make it a habit to sleep and

wake up at the same time
every day. While you may want
to sleep longer on the week-
ends to make up for lost sleep,
you need to train your body to
get used to waking up at a sim-
ilar time daily. The same goes
for the night. Hit the sack at a
designated time daily.

◆ Avoid having nicotine, cof-

fee or alcohol at night. These
stimulants will keep you
awake. Caffeine effects are
known to last for several
hours, so stay away from it in
the evenings and nights.
Alcohol may make you feel
drowsy in the beginning but
will keep waking you up dur-
ing the night.

◆ If you take several naps dur-

ing the day will affect the qual-
ity of your sleep in the night.
A short power nap of about 15
minutes every day is fine but
make sure it doesn’t interfere
with you getting sleep at night.

◆ Experts say that regular

exercise helps improve sleep.
However, don’t exercise just
before you’re about to go to
bed. Finish your workout at
three to four hours before you
hit the sack.

◆ Keep your bed for its pur-

pose — use it just to sleep.
Avoid bringing work or house-
hold chores to your bed and
avoid talking on the phone,
watching television or listen-
ing to music. These activities
can make it tough to fall
asleep.

◆ Never eat just before you

turn in. Eating a late dinner or
(
ZZ
having snacks activates your Bold, bad and filmy. Meet the gangs of Bollywood.
digestive system and prevents
you from falling asleep.
From camp Shahrukh to camp Amita bh,these gangs
◆ Ensure that your surround-
ings are comfortable. Your bed, rule Bollywood like no other. Now witness the high
temperature, lighting, and
noise and noise in the bed- TONIGHT 7:30 PM voltage rivalry that makes B-town what it is. 100% BOLLYWOOD
room also play an important
part in aggravating insomnia.