Panchakarma - The Major Treatment of Ayurveda

According to Ayurveda, human body is composed of the three Doshas, the seven dhatus and three malas. Equilibrium of the dosha, dhatu and mala maintains the healthy state of body and mind. But imbalance in any of them gives rise to disease. The purpose of Ayurveda is to maintain this equilibrium. This can be achieved by two methods. One is to pacify the dosha or by eliminate the dosha by nearby route i.e. Panchakarma. Panchakarma acts as curative as well as preventive therapy. It is purifying as well as rejuvenating procedure. Panchakarma is the soul of Ayurveda. As promised by Ayurveda, Ayurveda believes in treating the disease at its root, not just symptomatic treatment and boosting the body's capacity to resist and fight disease. Panchakarma Chikitsa(treatment) for diseases like Infertility, Psoriasis, Insomnia, early ageing, irritability, lowered concentrating capacity, Hypertension, Hyperacidity following stress and strain of today's day to day life problems. With Panchakarma principle, we also treat chronic diseases like Diabetes, Arthritis, Asthma, Spondilosis, Chronic Constipation, Colitis and Skin Diseases like Psoriasis. Principles of Panchakarma Chikitsa(treatment) are also followed for women in pre and post menopausal syndrome like hot and cold flashing irritability neuritis excessive sweating, weight gain, menstrual irregularities and leucorrhoea, menorrhagia the excessive menstrual bleeding etc.

The Panchakarma treatment of Ayurveda requires years of hands on clinical training and experience to be effective. Ayurvedic type massage offered in spas and center not dedicated Ayurvedic Medical health care, may appear similar, but are decisively different. Without the proper training in Ayurvedic Medicine, these Panchakarma therapies cannot be administered properly and may even aggravate or worsen the person's condition.

Before doing Panchakarma there are certain steps to be followed which are called as Poorvakarmas. They are Snehana (oleation) and Swedana (sudation). Snehana can be done by two ways, application of oil internally and externally. There are four types to promote sweat in Swedana. The purpose of Poorvakarma is to liquefy and guide the provoked Doshas (impurities) to the mainstream to facilitate the Sodhana karma. Diseases occur when toxins get accumulated in body and clog these channels. Unhealthy diet, lifestyle, stress, changes in environment etc lead to accumulation of toxins in body. These accumulated toxins have to be expelled out in order to keep our body healthy. Through Panchakarma therapy these toxic clogs are removed to normalize the physiological process. Hence Panchakarma therapy is called as detoxification therapy. Panchakarma therapy can be administered to a normal person to prevent diseases and keep his body healthy. Panchakarma therapy is also used as a purifactory therapy to cleanse the body before starting a treatment. A diseased body can be compared to a soiled cloth which can not be colored as we desire. Hence to attain the maximum benefits, the body has to be purified or cleaned before starting the treatment. The cleared channels help medicines to penetrate the deeper tissues. SNEHAN It is the oilation therapy. It is of two kinds, internal and external. Internal Snehan: in this treatment medicated oils and ghee (clarified butter) etc. are given for internal use. These sneha are so subtle that they can enter into minute pores of cell membrane. They have a tendency of pushing or mobilizing the impurities from there so that their elimination becomes easy. Ghee (clarified butter) prepared from cow's butter is best for this use. External Snehan: this comprises of different kinds of massage. Medicated oils are applied on the body and different methods are used for that. These massage techniques are many times used in the treatment of muscular fatigue, loss of motor functions, arthritis, paralysis, migraine, spondylities and bodyache. They also induce sound sleep by relaxing the nervous system, increase immunity of the body and are beneficial to increase skin's lustre. SWEDANA It is the second Purvakarma. It means fomentation or heating therapy. Different types of fomentations like steam bath and poultices are used on specific parts of the body. Many kinds of warm medicated oils, water, milk and herbal decoctions are also used. They are either used in a bath tub or are poured on the body. These types of fomentation treatments are very beneficial in diseases like pains in the joints, neck, lumbago, hemiplegia, urinary disorders, renal diseases, muscular dystrophy, common cold, asthma and loss of muscle functions. Swedana or fomentation liquefies or digests the Doshas and opens the mouth of blocked channels and pores of cell membrane. This makes the elimination of wastes easy when the actual Panchakarma are performed. So after doing these Purvakarma or preparatory treatments, the main karmas (Panchakarma) are done.

WHY PANCHAKARMA: - to eliminate the toxic matter from the body. - to enhance the power of digestion and metabolism. - to get rid of diseases from the very root out of the systems. - to restore normal health. - to gain the strength, increase the virility and improve the progeny. - to have more clearer complexion. - to increase the power of sense organs and motor organs.