5 Pain Conditions that are Managed Effectively with Panchakarma
Back pain
Back is one of the most common pain problems that affect almost 90% of people in the world at some point in their life. Back pain can be caused either due to lifestyle or biological factors. The lifestyle factors include too much sitting, overuse of back muscles, incorrect posture, smoking, no physical activity, etc. The biological factors involve an injury to spinal muscles or the bones, slip disc, tear in cartilage or even infections. According to Ayurveda vata vitiation is one of the leading causes of back pain. Detoxification with panchakarma is great way to reduce excess vata in the body. Panchakarma includes therapies such as vaman, virechanam and basti, which can effectively reduce the vata imbalance in the body that is responsible for causing back pain.Arthritis
Arthritis is an auto-immune disease that is characterised by severe pain in various joints such as knee, wrist, pelvic or elbow. Arthritis is thought to be caused due to inflammation or tearing of cartilage disc that acts as a cushion between two bones. Breaking of this cartilage cushion or inflammation makes the two bones rub against each other resulting in severe pain. According to Ayurveda, vitiated vata dosha and ama or undigested or improperly formed food essence in the body are the main culprits for the disease. Changes in metabolism that results in excess vata dosha can cause arthritis pain. Ayurveda therefore believes in correcting the metabolism and digestive fire in order to treat arthritis. The Ayurvedic treatment aims at removing ama vata and reducing pain in joints using therapies such as basti for 8 or 16 days or virechana, both of which are an important part of purification treatment panchakarma. Ayurveda also offers hot bolus massage called kizhi or upanaham that includes application of herbal paste over inflamed joints.Migraine
Migraine is a common type of headache and is characterised by severe throbbing pain that mainly occurs on one side of the head. Migraine attack can be triggered by bright light, loud sound, hormonal changes in the body or even seasonal changes. The Ayurvedic treatment for migraine focuses on reducing the headache , eye strain and creating mental calmness. As per Ayurvedic theories, migraine is vata disorder. Since vata dosha controls the nervous system and brain, imbalance of this dosha can result in headaches. Ayurvedic experts therefore believe that purification therapy like panchakarma can effectively reduce the symptoms of headache in migraine. Panchakarma treatment, especially nasyam plays a very vital role in managing headaches, reducing eye strain and causing mental relaxation. Nasyam includes instillation of medicated oils, powders or extracts in the nasal cavity. These medicated herbal ingredients reach the brain easily and reduce the symptoms of migraine.Shoulder and neck pain
Shoulder and neck pain is seen commonly among people who use computer for a long time, need to lift heavy things regularly, or even those who drive or ride bike daily. Although lifestyle factors, mental stress and strain on shoulder muscles are thought to be the common causes of neck and shoulder pain, experts also blame excess gas or vata in the body as the culprit. Ayurveda also considers shoulder pain as a vata vyadhi and offers detoxification therapies such as panchakarma to remove unwanted toxins and vata vitiation from the body. Other pain relieving therapies such as Ayurvedic massage abhyangam, pizhichil, and greeva basti are also effective. Panchakarma treatments with basti enemas remove excess vata from the body, whereas nasyam includes instillation of pain relieving medications.Chest pain
Chest pain can be caused by several conditions. Some include serious problems such as heart disease, anxiety, and some include acute conditions such as gastric acidity or other gastric problems. Chest pain that is caused by gastric problems is mainly due to excess vata or gas production in the body. The vata created due to improper digestion of food in the stomach forces itself upwards and results in heartburn causing severe chest pain. Panchakarma treatment includes therapies such as vaman, virechanam and basti that aim towards reducing the vata vitiation in the body. Therapies such as nasyam cause mental calmness that can also relax the body and relieve physical symptoms such as chest pain.Written by Sri. Abhisekh, NuAyurveda Clinic
NuAyurveda is a chain of Ayurvedic clinics that follows a holistic treatment approach. All the treatments offered at the clinic are tailored as per individual’s health needs and lifestyle. NuAyurveda is a place where modern science is combined with traditional wisdom to create the best treatment one needs today. Visit www.nuayurveda.com to know more
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