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Ayurveda > Ayurveda Case Notes > Tamak Shwas-Chikitsa
By Dr. Satish Kulkarni
Treatment of Osteoarthritis
Ms. Johns is
seventy six years old. She faces a
lot of pain in her knee because of
her sandhi vaat. Sandhi
vaat means joint pain. This can
occur due to several reasons ranging
from osteoarthritis to rheumatic
heart disease.
Ms. Johns is
suffering from sandhi vaat. Cause
of her sandhi vaat is
osteoarthritis i.e. wear and tear of
the bones due to age. I noted this on
her case paper as a first impression
about her problem. Ms. Johns gave me
her medical history. She mentioned
that she has four daughters and after
her deliveries she could not get
enough rest. She had to get back to
house work within a few days after
each delivery. I noted that she did
house work like doing the dishes and
washing clothes, both with cold
water. Her middle class family
background did not permit her to have
nutritious food rich in iron and
calcium and as a result of that, Ms.
Johns is anemic and has calcium
deficiency.
Ms. Johns is of
vaat-pitta prakruti. Her age,
her disease and the winter season all
add to her aggravated vaat. I
added this to my notes.
My first line
of treatment was to give her relief
from the pain. I talked to her about ayurvedic
treatment. She said that it would be
a better choice since allopathic
drugs are strong and produce
hyperacidity. In addition, cost was
also a factor. Long term allopathic
treatment needs a lot of money and
Ms. John’s husband was not very
supportive. We decided to opt for ayurvedic
treatment which is definitely cheaper
than allopathic drugs.
Guggul
(commiphora mukul) is the best herb
for arthritic pain, swelling and
cracking of joints which are amongst
Ms. John’s primary complaints. I
prescribed two tablets of yog raj
guggul (pills made with guggul
as a chief ingredient and a few other
herbs) at a time along with two
teaspoonfuls of maha rasnadi kwath
(a decoction which contains anti-vaat
elements), both three times a day.
Eranda
(castor) is also a very good medicine
for this type of trouble. I advised
Ms. Johns to take 20 ml. of castor
oil at bed time once a week. In her
case, it would work as a vaat
fighter rather than a laxative, for
which purpose it is more commonly
used.
I also chalked
out a dietary plan for Ms. Johns. She
was advised to take hot milk at bed
time. The heat would be effective for
her vaat problem and milk
would add to her calcium levels. I
also prescribed having fried green
leafy vegetables and freshly prepared
bajra roti (a kind of
flattened bread made from millet) for
lunch and dinner. This would enhance
the results of the treatment.
Ms. Johns will
also benefit from snehan (olation
therapy) and swedan
(fomentation therapy). I have advised
Ms. Johns to drink four
tablespoonfuls of real ghee
(clear butter) at bed time as a daily
snehan. I told my assistant to
fix up an appointment in the morning
for swedan. We will boil water
and nirgundi leaves (whitex
nirgudi) together to prepare
medicated steam and will request Ms.
Johns to sit in a sweating box for
five to ten minutes. This will be
done once or twice a week.
A few other
restrictions like avoiding cold food
and cold weather and wearing warm
clothes will help in giving faster
relief. I am sure that when Ms. Johns
will come for a follow-up visit, she
will be out of pain.
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