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Ayurveda, the ancient science of life describes two modalities in the treatment of disease viz.
1) Shamana therapy 2) Shodhana therapy.
1) Shamana therapy- This therapy is used as a palliative therapy. 'Shamana' means 'to suppress' the symptoms. Depending on the patient and the stage and the nature of the disease, the particular type of therapy is recommended.
2) Shodhana therapy- This therapy is used to eliminate the cause of the disease. "Shodhana" means to "throw away" the toxins, which are responsible for the diseases, instead of suppressing them. By eliminating the toxins, it restores balance to the biological humors of the body.
Panchkarma constitutes the foremost Shodhana Chikitsa, since it not only pacifies the symptoms of the diseases but also eliminates their root cause.
The name Panchkarma is derived from Two Sanskrit words. "Panch" means "five" and "Karma" means "Action". The name denotes five primary procedures of cleansing, which Ayurveda uses to purify the body of everything abnormal. The five purifactory procedures are
1) Vaman (Induced Emesis)
2) Virechan (Induced Purgation)
3) Basti (Medicated Enemas)
4) Nasya (Nasal Insufflation) and
5) Raktamokshan (Blood letting)
There are two preparatory procedures before the actual procedures. These therapies are used to dislodge the toxins from the inner sites and help them eliminate by the actual
prifactory procedures.
These are
1) Snehan (Oleation)
2) Swedan (Fomentation)
1) Snehana (Oleation) - This therapy employs administration of medicated oils either internally or externally. There are various types of external application of the medicated oils, depending on the parts of the body involved and type of the massage performed.
2) Swedan (Fomentation) - The second major form of the preparatory procedures is termed as Swedan. This therapy dilates the body's channels so that the aim of eliminating toxins would be facilitated. In addition to this it reduces the body's stiffness.There are various types of Swedan but the two primary forms used during Panchkarma's preparatory procedures are "Nadi Sweda" and
"Bashpa Sweda"
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