The Ayurvedic treatment consists of three factors
Ayurvedic treatment covers the widest possible prophylactic and therapeutic approaches viz., use of a drug (Aushadha), diet (Pathya) and practices (Vihara) prescribed jointly and contrary to the cause of the disease. Contrary to the disease itself or contrary to both the cause and the disease constitutes treatment.
The treatment is of two types:
Swasthasyaurjakara The treatment which promotes and safeguards the existing health. For example, aphrodisiac and geriatric medicine.
Aturasyaroganut The treatment for the sick. It covers prophylactic and curative medicine.
The treatment in Ayurveda is done by two methods:
(A) Shodhana (Cleanishing or elimination of junked toxic substances)
(B) Shamana (Palliative treatement)
(A) Shodhana is the cleaning or eliminating the morbid factors from the body by the five purificatory procedures. This is done in three phases viz., pre-operative, operative and post-operative. Pre-operative stage is the oleation and sudation therapy. In this phase the patient is given various medicated sneha (Lubricants- Ghee, oils, fats and marrow) internally and externally, and various types of sudations are done. By these processes the morbid factors are loosened and removed or brought to the stomach or the elementary canal. This is followed by operative stage in which loosened morbid doshas are removed by following modalities:
The post-operative stage is the gradual administration of food from simple gruel to solid food.
(B) Shamana or palliative treatment - This is done by diet control, fasting, exposing to sun rays and wind, various exercises, yoga and medicine.
