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Panchakarma comprises of two words namely
pancha menaing five and karma meaning therapy. This age-old
science of purifying the body is an ancient branch of Ayurveda,
The treatment in Ayurveda consists of two main types. One
is Shaman Chikitsa, used to subdue the vitiated Doshas, due
to which any ailments may be produced. It is administered
by using various medicinal herbo-mineral preparations. However,
if the Doshas are vitiated beyond a particular level, they
give rise to various endotoxins, which have a tendency to
be accumulated in the minute channels. These are beyond the
level of pacification and hence need to be eliminated or removed
from the body. In such cases, the second type of treatment,
which is Shodhan Chikitsa or cleansing therapy, is indicated.
Since it consists of the five types of main therapies, it
is known as the Panchakarma Chikitsa. Panchakarma has been
given a special place in all the ancient Ayurvedic texts.
Aacharya Charak, the author of the most important ancient
text on internal medicine, has described a wide use of Panchakarma
therapy for almost all the major diseases. Two separate sections,
Kalpa Sthanam, and Siddhi Sthanam in Charak Samhita describe
the details of special decoctions and other preparations used
for Panchakarma therapy.
Panchakarma includes two main
parts namely:
Poorva Karma (Preparatory Methods) which includes :
• Paachan (Digestion)
• Snehan (Internal and external oleation)
• Swedan (Fomentation)
Pradhan Karma (Main methods) which includes :
• Vaman (Induced vomiting)
• Virechan (Induced purgation)
• Basti (Medicated enema)
• Nasya (Nasal medicine)
• Rakta Mokshan (Artificial bloodletting)
Pashchat Karma (Post-Therapeutic Measures) which includes
:
• This includes Sansarjan Krama (Specific dietetics),
DhumaPana (smoking of medicinal
cigars) and some rules to follow specific activities.
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