Q: I am a 45 years old teacher. One day while coming home from school, I had a brain haemorrhage. Presently my right leg and right hand are not properly working. I am unable to write or hold anything. Though I am under medication and regular physiotherapy. But the improvement is slow and there is stiffness in my palm and leg/arm movement. My blood pressure is sometimes 140/110 mm Hg. Kindly advise if olive oil application to the affected parts will be beneficial. Some say that it will increase the stiffness. Will I be able to write again in future?

A:I am sorry to learn of the bleeding into your brain that left you with difficulties in using your right limbs. I presume you were right handed when you suffered this haemorrhage. Nature makes every attempt to repair damage done to tissues by illness. Success in effecting such repair depends on the extent of permanent damage done to the nerve tracts (bundles of fibres that convey signals to and from the brain). If the permanent damage be extensive, repair is likely to be incomplete. Persistence on our part can and does work wonders. Many patients have confounded the pessimistic predictions of their doctors by practicing very hard, exercising rigorously and maintaining a sense of equanimity. Given the will, the capacity for repair provided by nature can be built upon with gratifying results. I suggest you keep your courage and do your best in terms of exercises and attempts in using the weak limbs. Activity and exercises will help keep joints supple. It is also advisable to keep the blood pressure strictly under control for high blood pressure is notorious for causing problems within the brain and its blood vessels. Massage with olive oil, carried out gently without forcing tissues apart, will do good. It can only do harm if violent manipulations are used in the process.