What we do
At EARTH MEDICINE we offer multi-disciplinary physical rehabilitation treatments to asylum seekers who come from countries at war or political and ethnic conflicts.
What we do
At EARTH MEDICINE we offer multi-disciplinary physical rehabilitation treatments to asylum seekers who come from countries at war or political and ethnic conflicts.
Many of the people we encounter have been victims of torture, sexual violence, chronic injuries due to bomb blasts, gun shots, and injuries acquired during their dangerous journey to safety.
As therapists, we cannot dissociate the physical body from the mind and emotions that have a negative impact on health. For this reason, we understand that it is not possible to recover from physical injuries when intense psychological and emotional trauma is affecting the chemistry of the whole body by constantly releasing stress hormones that prevent physical healing.
Through our work, we have seen that it is imperative to treat the symptoms of post-traumatic-stress disorder. We are aware that in the context of a refugee camp, addressing the trauma itself may not be the best therapeutic approach.
We therefore focus our efforts on firstly alleviating bodily pain and then stabilising physiological functions through acupuncture, homeopathy, a diet-monitoring program, physiotherapy; and clinical therapeutic massage.
Increase in the number of patients
There has been a steady increase of patients since the project began in January 2019. The typical number of new cases is 4-10 people per month, coming from Moria and Kara Tepe camps. Up to now we have treated 119 cases.
Number of patients
male
73
female
90
Total
163
Recovered and ongoing cases
During this past year we had 52 fully recovered cases, 42 on-going, and 15 who have left the island. With the current influx of refugees to the island, we expect that the number of new cases that we treat per month will increase.
New patients per month
Most common injuries
The refugee population commonly presents with chronic physical injuries such as elbow fractures, herniated discs, lower limb fractures, knee and wrist problems, joint atrophy and deformity; as well as the psychological and emotional consequences of traumatic experiences lived both before leaving their countries and during their journeys to safety.
