Ayurvedic Remedies
Ayurveda remedies or treatment of any major kind is determined after determining the prakriti (general conditions) of a person and determining dominant dosha of the tridosha. However, Ayurvedic remedies are used for specific illnesses only. Mostly herbs – a single herb or a combination of herbs, certain spices, other plant products and minerals form the medicine.
For example, people (in Kerala) would take a few leaves of Tulsi (Ocimum tenuiflorum) or Tulasi with two or three grains of pepper as a remedy for simple cough. There are several such readily available Ayurvedic remedies for almost all common diseases.
Ayurvedic remedies or Ayurvedic treatments like panchakarma, marma chikitsa, etc requires specialized training and preparation of medicines through different processes that last for many days.
The purpose of Ayurvedic treatments is to keep tridoshas at balance. An imbalance in the balance of a dosha is a disease condition. Imbalance of any one dosha of the tridosha also causes imbalance to the other two doshas as well.
Ayurvedic treatment goes through three main stages.
1. Samsodhana (cleansing process)
2. Samsamana (palliative care)
3. Nidhanaparivarjana (treating the causes)
Panchakarma falls in Samsodhana or the cleansing process.