Managing Pain with Ayurveda
Like the great, strong roots of the sycamore tree in the photo above, is the same support our body can give us, given the proper attention and care. Pain is a symptom of most of diseases and has proven to be a major challenge faced by all systems of medicine. Painkillers and their overuse and abuse is on the rise. We are faced with a global pandemic of persons suffering with physical and mental pain, and the numbers are continuously increasing.
Pain is the body’s way of letting us know that there is a problem. Learning the cause of your pain and getting complete relief from it involves more than just popping a pill and calling it done. Restored Sattva encourages the Gentle Living Lifestyle approach with all treatments of healing and it begins with recognizing where you are now, how you got there, and where you want to go. It further involves finding the blessing in the pain, however difficult, but there is always some way that the pain you are experiencing now has impacted your life in more than just negative ways but in positive ways as well, perhaps in having to learn to do less. Lastly, the Gentle Living Lifestyle encourages us to build the faith within ourselves, forming the hope that will ultimately create a beautiful future.
The source of pain may seem to be very obvious but Ayurveda offers a very personalized, in-depth, holistic perspective to pain, be it mental or physical. Pain can be from many reasons, but certainly is stemming from an imbalance in the body that has formed throughout the years and further induced through some sort of internal or external stress. Feeling like a zombie on pain killers does not need to be the future for those suffering with pain. Restored Sattva is dedicated to finding the source of your pain, whether it is acute pain or chronic pain.
Acute pain management for stomach aches and pain with possible causes from indigestion to constipation and diarrhea.
Chronic pain management for more deeply rooted imbalances in the body. Ayurveda considers chronic pain to have a pathway of systemic toxins or ama that have influenced the doshas or bodily energies to go from their proper home and into other parts of the body. All of this is influenced by a persons daily nutrition, health of digestion, toxin accumulation/elimination, stress, exercise levels and daily routine and treatment involves using these highly valuable yet simple diet and lifestyle changes to reverse the disease process.
Ayurvedic Treatments for Pain Management - Acute and Chronic
Rather than focusing on disease names, Ayurveda focuses on the doshas or the energies, that are vastly responsible for the health and longevity of the human body. These are vata, pitta, and kapha and when in balance, there is health, when they are out of balance, there begins the disease process. The balance of the doshas is not a set value or amount. Every person is a unique individual and therefor every person has a different combination of the doshas in their body. Working with an ayurvedic professional will be of importance when healing from chronic issues where treatment will be based on your unique dosha makeup and dosha imbalance.
Removing ama or Toxins and Impurities: Ama or toxins is built up in the body through wrong actions of the body and mind - over eating, wrong food combinations, eating before the previous meal has digested, snacking, intaking of cold foods and beverages, excess of raw foods, and many other things that weaken agni or the digestive strength. Ama is the principle cause of pain, being lodged further into the tissues through displacement of the doshas. Removal of ama from the body and even from the deep rooted areas within can achieved through patience and self-care practices that include medicated herbalized oil massages (abhyanga) which helps in loosening impurities that are embedded in tissues and helps liquefy them for easy absorption into the circulation and eventual elimination of pain, and most importantly, taking care of agni. Each person has a unique situation, everyone’s balanced state of health is different and everyone’s imbalanced state of health is different. Learning what is right for you is where true healing resides. Be inspired and directed in an online health consultation with Restored Sattva.
Proper Nutrition: What you eat every day and how you eat it will make the biggest difference in the way that you feel every day. Never underestimate the simple things in your life. Remember, it is plant that only needs good soil, sunshine and rain to thrive. Likewise, our body needs very few things to live healthfully. Ayurveda encourages an easy to digest, warm, and moist dietary approach that improves agni or gastrointestinal strength along with very specific ayurvedic herbal formula and dosages to help in restoring balance to the symptoms while bringing the doshas back to their proper place. Having a proper diet and meal times also ensure additional ama or toxins are not being created, which will further aggravate the doshas and pain one feels.
Improving Agni, or Digestion: As spoken above, agni is not only at the very root and core and foundation of health, it is considered the brain of wellness in modern medicine as well. Agni is responsible for how well our food is digested and how well it is absorbed. This process is so vital because it is this food from which our dhatus or tissues are created. Weak dhatus leads to disease, yet without the help of weakened agnia and disturbed doshas. Undigested foods create ama or toxins/impurities that are eventually absorbed, localized deep in any weakened tissue(s) and disrupt their functioning leading to the many symptoms we experience today including all day, ongoing pain in various parts of the body. We improve agni by eating food that is right for the person (considering their natural state of being and their current state of imbalance that can be seen with an ayurvedic assessment), eating at proper times, eating easy to digest foods, following a few simple agni enhancing guidelines, and using some herbs, spices and good quality cooking oils.
Treatments for Joint Pains: With any pains in joint, we know that vata or the air element dosha is responsible. In ayurveda we have this saying - like increases like and the opposite brings balance. Consider keeping warm, as excess or vitatiated vata has increased its already cold nature. Consider warming herbs such as ginger powder (powder is more warming than the raw root) and garlic are extremely good for controlling joint pains. However, we must not discredit an individuals unique constitution. An ayurvedic assessment will bridge the gap between what is good to take and what you should take considering your doshic constitution and doshic imbalances. For example, garlic is helpful but in excess may exacerbate pitta dosha causing further imbalance. Treatments are very specific in Ayurvda. Please do not take an all over approach. Bitter tastes are good for arthritis but excess bitter decreases kapha dosha, taking away the necessary lubrication further through the air element of vata (of which bitters increase). People with joint pains should really consider removing sour foods such as tomatoes as they are found to increase vata dosha and thus pain. Constipation can aggravate any pain being toxins are held in the body and may be lodged back internally. Foods that are difficult to digest must be avoided, such as raw vegetables. Most people do not have a strong enough agni to digest raw vegetables. Some pulses/lentils and beans are also difficult to digest such as toor dal or pigeon peas, as well as kidney beans.
Balancing the Nervous System: Activity we do every day, no matter what it is in body or in thinking, is controlled by vata dosha. Vata imbalance is the underlying cause of all painful conditions yet in many cases can be reversed by very specific diets, herbs, meditation, yoga asanas, breathing exercises and cleansing panchakarma therapies. If one has excessive mental, emotional and physical stress, their pain can worsen. Meditation is an important healing tool that uses the mind-body connection to help people deal with pain conditions. It truly is a game changer along with gentle yoga stretches.
Lifestyle and Daily Routine: One of the most important factors for maintaining longevity and healing internal imbalances is through havig a lifestyle that does not disturb natural bodily rhythms. Ayurveda reviews and creates a daily schedule that will increase balance in your physiology and aid in healing your body.
Exercise: Doing nothing leads to stagnation in all parts of body and mind. Ayurveda encourages daily exercise, that which is proper for each unique person, supporting the body and mind through gentle stretching and flexibility exercises, proven to have a positive effect on circulation, nervous system function, ama elimination, and balancing of the doshas, all which contribute to healing pain at the root source.
Useful Herbs in the Treatment of Chronic Pains -
Working with an ayurvedic professional can allow you the opportunity to receive custom herbal formulations for your imbalances
Boswellia serrata (Indian frankincense), alleviates joint pain and inflammation by the scraping action of ama from the bone tissue. Boswellia blocks an enzyme (5-lipoxygenase) that plays a major role in the formation of chemicals called leukotrienes, which stimulate and perpetuate inflammation.
Ashwagandha (Withaniasomnifera) is the herb popularly known as Winter Cherry in the west. It has several positive properties for the treating joint pains through stress inhibitors.
Turmeric is a spice commonly used in Indian cooking. It is also used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine to treat a wide variety of ailments, many of which are related to inflammation. The active ingredient is curcumin and has been shown to stop key inflammatory producing enzymes.
Guggulu this herb (Commiphora guggul) has been shown to be a strong inhibitor of the enzyme NFKB, which regulates the body’s inflammatory response. There are several studies that show decreased inflammation and joint swelling after administration of extracts of guggulu resin. Resins are also supports the first tissue the body makes, rasa dhatu, consisting of nutrient fluid and lymph that goes onto build the rest of the tissues of the body.
Garlic (Alliumsativum) has a history of be a very effective remedy for the treatment of joint pains. About five to six cloves of garlic must be eaten every morning to seek relief but in this quantity may not be appropriate for every individual.
Ginger (Zingiberofficinale) is also one of the best methods in the treatment of joint pains. It must be included freely in the daily diet of the person. Daily tea made with ginger is an easy way to get this herb into the system.
Triphala - herbs in triphala have anti-inflammatory effects, bringing health to colon and overall digestive enhancement. A great supporter of agni.
If you are seeking relief from your pain, book a consultation today for a thorough assessment of your health and treatment protocol unique for your situation.