CONSERVATIVE SURGICAL PROCEDURES AND COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE
Surgical procedures and joint replacements cannot be avoided in every case.
When do you, Dr Matejka, recommend surgery?
How can naturopathic and complementary medical procedures influence the success of the operation?
DR. MED. RAINER MATEJKA:
Whenever the aforementioned procedures have been exhausted or a degenerative change is already far advanced and causes persistent pain, a joint replacement cannot be avoided. This is particularly true for older people whose self-healing powers have clearly diminished.
Personally, I recommend that patients take days off before a planned operation, such as before starting a fast (e.g. vegetable days, potato days), as well as homeopathic complex remedies for pain, swelling, inflammation and lymphatics. In purely empirical terms, this regularly leads to very good and rapid wound healing.
PROF. DR. ANDREAS MICHALSEN:
I recommend surgery if the options offered by naturopathy, especially inpatient integrative therapy, do not achieve sufficient relief of symptoms.
Another criterion for surgery is if, for example, other areas of the body are affected by osteoarthritis and its limitations. In other words, if hip pain, back pain or headaches also occur with osteoarthritis of the knee and mobility is increasingly restricted. Surgery is then advisable; operating too late could even reduce the success of the operation.
It makes particular sense to utilise the possibilities of naturopathy before a planned surgical treatment, e.g. to ensure optimal blood circulation, muscle and tissue metabolism through fasting and physiotherapy, and to reduce stress at the same time. It has been proven that this approach improves regeneration and wound healing after an operation.
PHYSIOTHERAPEUTIC QUESTIONS
Prof Michalsen, a question from the field of physiotherapy: have you been able to observe a connection with biomechanical restrictions, muscle imbalances or other functional and organic complaints in your osteoarthritis studies?
PROF. DR. ANDREAS MICHALSEN:
In any case, I see many connections here. In particular, I don't see osteoarthritis as a single joint disease.
With the exception of underlying sports injuries, the development of osteoarthritis always has to do with the whole body. With its diet, with its metabolism, but also with the condition of its muscles, its vitality and its movement sequences.
That's why I advise everyone to start early in life with movement exercises that involve stretching, coordination and muscle play. Yoga, for example, or a personalised interval training programme, supplemented by coordination and stretching exercises, is ideal.
Dr Matejka, we have a large osteopathic department at the Weckbecker Clinic.
What success do you see in osteopathic therapies?
DR. MED. RAINER MATEJKA:
The impressive thing for me is that back pain that is supposedly caused by herniated discs, spinal canal stenosis or other degenerative changes found in X-rays or MRIs is actually caused by poor posture and muscular tension.
If such incorrect posture is corrected and the permanent tension in certain muscle groups is released, the pain also subsides. These examples show me time and again that orthopaedic complaints such as back and joint problems need to be medically ‘rethought’ to a considerable extent. This is precisely where the osteopathic approach comes in.
FASTING AND NUTRITIONAL THERAPY
Dear Prof Michalsen, one last question: What is the importance of fasting therapy and how long should the patient be accompanied by fasting therapy?
What other therapies should accompany the fasting therapy to maximise its success?
PROF. DR. ANDREAS MICHALSEN:
In principle, I consider fasting and nutritional therapy to be an excellent treatment option for all chronic illnesses and especially for chronic pain disorders such as arthrosis and rheumatism. Fasting should be carried out for at least five, ideally seven to ten days, depending on the findings.
The advantage is that we also have a wide range of options today. We have the classic fasting methods according to Buchinger or F.X. Mayr, but we also have modified, somewhat higher calorie fasting techniques and intermittent fasting for further outpatient treatment.
Ideally, inpatient fasting should be accompanied by other therapies that promote the healing and regeneration of body and soul. These include mind-body medicine, physiotherapy, Kneipp therapy and exercise in all its forms.
Prof Michalsen, Dr Matejka, on behalf of all those interested, thank you very much for this exciting interview.
DR. MED. RAINER MATEJKA
Fasting doctor, specialist in general medicine, naturopathy and biological medicine. From 2016 to 2024, he was head physician at the Malteser Klinik von Weckbecker in Bad Brückenau.
He gained his medical experience over many years through his medical work in acute medicine, holistic rehabilitation clinics and his own day clinic in Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe. Matejka is Honorary President of the German Naturopathic Association (DNB), Chairman of the Medical Association for Therapeutic Fasting and Nutrition (ÄGHE) and Editor-in-Chief of the magazine ‘Naturarzt’. He has written several medical textbooks, including one on so-called detoxification therapies, and is known for his wide-ranging lecturing activities at home and abroad.
PROF. DR. ANDREAS MICHALSEN
Professor of Clinical Naturopathy at Charité Berlin and Chief Physician in the Department of Internal Medicine and Naturopathy at Immanuel Hospital Berlin-Wannsee.
Prof Dr Andreas Michalsen, born in Bad Waldsee in 1961 as the son of a Kneipp doctor, is an internist. Nutritional physician and fasting doctor. As Professor of Clinical Naturopathy at Charité Berlin and Chief Physician in the Department of Internal Medicine and Naturopathy at Immanuel Hospital Berlin, he researches, teaches and treats with a focus on nutritional medicine, therapeutic fasting, intermittend fasting and mind-body medicine. Michalsen publishes and lectures internationally in the field of naturopathy and complementary medicine.
