Ayurvedic Treatments – An Introduction

Ayurvedic treatments & therapies for various diseases involves a combination of various therapies to treat specific health concerns. For instance, if a person is suffering from chronic pains and other musculoskeletal issues, the patient can benefit from a combination of therapies, such as Shirodhara, Abhyanga, Janu Vasti, Sneha Vasti, Kati Vasti, and Kizhi. Highlighted below are some of the common health concerns and suitable treatments recommended by Ayurveda.

Chronic Stress Combining Abhyanga, Shirodhara, Nasyam, and Pizhichil can help soothe tense nerves and naturally reduce stress levels.

Chronic Pain Back and neck pain is a common occurrence among young and middle-aged people, and it worsens with age. Ayurveda provides a wide range of massage-based treatments to relieve pain and stiffness in the back and neck area. Some examples are Abhyangam, Kizhi, Kati Basti, Janu Basti and Sneha Vasti.

Gastric Issues Combining Sneha Vasti, Padabhyanga, Vaman, Kashaya Vasti and Virechana can help clear your metabolic pathways, improve digestion and prevent gut-related issues. If you have constipation, taking Triphala Tablets or Abhayarishta can help you find relief.

Obesity When used in a supplementary manner, Udvartanam and Kashaya Vasti can help you shed those extra kilos and get back in shape.

High Blood Pressure Ayurveda recommends yoga and various home remedies, such as Amla, garlic cloves and watermelon, to control high blood pressure.

Ayurveda for Rejuvenation

A thorough cleansing can eliminate toxins and promote healing. Some highly recommended detox therapies include Nasyam, Vaman, Virechanam and Kashaya Vasti. Apart from Abhyangam, Nasyam and Pizhichil, complementary therapies like Shirodhara, Takradhara can help boost immunity.

Hair and Skin Problems Nourish your skin and strengthen your hair naturally with therapies like Ubtan, Soundarya, Shringara, Udwarthanam, Thalapothichil, and Mukha Lepam. These therapies can help reduce acne, prevent dark spots and improve scalp health.

Ayurveda’s holistic approach to health and well-being is premised on balancing three principal energies. All three principle energies must be at their optimum levels to live an active, disease-free life. Some popular Ayurvedic treatments used to treat various diseases are:

1. Panchakarma treatment,
2. Shirodhara,
3. Abhyangam,
4. Kati Vasti,
5. Nasya treatment
6. Elakizhi,
7. Njavara Kizhi, etc.

At Samhita Wellness, these therapies are administered by a certified practitioner.

Ayurvedic therapies can help you with weight management, stress management, hair and skin, detoxification, and immunity building. Psoriasis treatment in Ayurveda is usually performed by a certified practitioner using a variety of herbal pastes.

Ayurvedic treatments

Shirodhara treatment

It’s a restorative therapy administered by a certified practitioner in a purpose-built facility. The process involves pouring warm, medicated oil over the forehead. The treatment lasts 60-90 minutes and includes a gentle head massage to ease headaches, stress, and anxiety.

Sushruta has aptly guided us in the Sutra

One who knows only one shastra cannot come to any decisive conclusion. That is why one who has learnt from many shastras is indeed a physician.

For a renaissance in Ayurveda, we need to remember and apply the aforesaid sutra also to new sciences, which have emerged over the last three centuries. The global impact and importance of Ayurveda, just like yoga, will be spontaneous when unique principles, practices, and products of Ayurveda are understandable in terms of the current life sciences. It is quite likely that akin to the impact of Rauwolfia serpentina, Benth, new domains of knowledge would be discovered by the findings of research on prakriti, pathya-apathya, pragnyaparadha, and Panchkarma.

Shirodhara is a classical and a well-established ayurvedic procedure of slowly and steadily dripping medicated oil on the center of the forehead of the patient, resting quietly on a comfortable bed. Other liquids like coconut water, buttermilk, milk, etc. are also used depending on the individual need of the patient. The etymology of Shirodhara is from:

• Shira = head, and
• Dhara = a steady flow.

This procedure induces a relaxed state of awareness, which results in a dynamic psycho-somatic balance. A total feeling of wellness, mental clarity, and comprehension is experienced in this process. It is quite recently that Japanese investigators have initiated state-of-the art studies on Shirodhara for its effects on psychoneuroimmunology. The same group has also studied the specific effects of the essential oil from Lavendula angustifolia.

In India, Shirodhara is a common and age-old Ayurvedic practice, and the clinical benefits are being observed by Vaidyas in thousands of patients. In Ayurvedic colleges, there have also been several MD dissertations and occasional few research papers on Shirodhara. However, there has been less attention on the psychological and physiological effects, along with investigative correlates of electrocardiogram (ECG), electroencephalogram (EEG), and selected biochemical markers like catecholamines. Shirodhara is a classical and a well-established ayurvedic procedure of slowly and steadily dripping medicated oil or other liquids on the forehead. This procedure induces a relaxed state of awareness that results in a dynamic psycho-somatic balance.

A standardized Shirodhara leads to a state of alert calmness similar to the relaxation response observed in meditation. The clinical benefits observed with Shirodhara in anxiety neurosis, hypertension, and stress aggravation due to chronic degenerative diseases could be mediated through these adaptive physiological effects.