Clinic Update

This week gave me a sense of what clinic will be like during the remainder of my time here in Chanaute. Over the past four days I've performed almost 100 treatments. The majority of complaints are normally pain related with the top three being back, knee and shoulder pain. Surprisingly I've not seen more neck pain because the Nepalis almost always use an strap that wraps up and over the forehead to help them carry heavy loads on their backs (although I have seen neck pain complaints, just not as frequently as the other three noted). It's easy to see why when you see how physically demanding the work is around here. Between the farmers working in the fields, to the villagers who are tearing down and rebuilding by hand their homes and shops damaged during the past earthquakes. I purposely have not taken a lot of photos of people working because I would rather have their permission, but I've attached a couple of examples. The first is of a gentleman carrying a couple of backpacks and a large rolled up piece of corrugated steel up the hillside.


In this next picture you have to look very carefully and see if you can spot the woman carrying a giant bundle of feed she has cut and collected for her livestock.



She is very well camouflaged as she walks down the road away from me, but if you look closely at the right side of the road you can just make out where her feet are on the right edge of the road.
Back to the clinic, I also treat a lot of gastritis and headaches. Other issues include high blood pressure, breathing issues, and dermatitis or other skin issues. Besides working extremely hard, many of the local Nepalis eat diets high in salt, sugar and cooking oil. And many of them cook over open fires inside their home that are often not well ventilated.
All of this creates a high demand in the clinic. On my busiest days I have seen 24 patients so far and I expect that number will grow to around 30 on some days before I depart.


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