TREATMENT APPROCAHES TO MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS IN ANCIENT SOURCES

Abstract

The works of philosophers who worked and wrote in the field of health and medicine in the Ancient Age are very important in that they convey the development in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Skeletal system disorders constitute the most concrete evidences of the diseases that ancient people were exposed to. Information can be attained regarding the lifestyle, nutrition, traumas and social status of ancient societies thanks to the findings revealed by the science of Paleopathology. Since the disease remains of the soft tissues could not reach the present day, the information conveyed by the ancient authors makes up for the deficiency in this field. However, it is understood that chronic diseases such as osteoarthritis, which is common in ancient societies, receive little attention since some of the people treating the diseases are not physicians. However, this disease is a joint disease with a high incidence since prehistoric times. In this study, which uses the information about Musculoskeletal System diseases in written sources and Archaeometry Results of recent years as a source, the purpose is to specifically address Musculoskeletal System diseases that the physicians of Ancient Age frequently encountered and how they struggled with these diseases.