A fatal folk remedy: rope wrapping to the back

Despite the developments in medicine in recent years, people in many regions of the world still tend to use alternative, or non-medical, folkloric treatment methods for many different health problems. One of these methods is "rope wrapping to the back," which is considered to be therapeutic for patients with lumbar disc hernias or low back pain. This method is practiced by local individuals without medical training.

Over the course of 3 years, 14 patients, 8 women and 6 men, presented to Atatürk University and Erzurum state hospitals in eastern Turkey after undergoing the folk treatment known as "rope wrapping to the back" for low back pain. One of the patients, who had symptoms of systemic infection, later died. Of the other patients, 4 had local infections, 6 had unresolved complaints, and 3 had other complaints. Nine of the patients were treated in the emergency department and 4 required surgery. Two case reports are provided as examples.

Improvements are needed to increase the accessibility of health care, improve physician-patient communication, and provide information to people, so as to prevent the use of folk remedies, which can have serious complications, sometimes resulting in death.