Our Foray Into Ayurveda

It’s true that Ayurveda (meaning the science of life) is a health care system that lays emphasis on how one can eliminate the root cause of a disease rather than focus on the management of it. Passed on orally through a lineage of sages, this natural and holistic medicine categorizes our body constitution into three different doshas namely vata, pitta, and kapha that broadly represents the nervous, metabolic, and nutritive systems.

By understanding this, a treatment plan is specifically designed to restore a well-balanced metabolism. One of my closest friends had recommended that we consult a good Ayurvedic doctor in the city for guidance on natural therapies to help regain balance, not just at the bodily level but also on the mental and emotional levels.

Hidradenitis suppurativa and ayurveda

It had been 6 years since my daughter was diagnosed with hidradenitis suppurativa, a condition that affects the apocrine-glad bearing skin characterized by recurrent painful abscesses.

She had, by then, undergone 3 wide-excision surgeries in her underarms. But during the third surgery, the surgeon had taken the risk of venturing slightly deeper that had ruptured her artery. Her hemoglobin levels had dropped to 5 and she needed a blood transfusion. That’s when we decided to digress from allopathy and venture into a system that prioritizes on an internal purification process. However, decoding HS has been like an interesting brainteaser even for Ayurvedic practitioners.

Trying different alternative treatments

The first step was to undergo panchakarama (meaning five detoxifying procedures). This would help to draw out toxins from the body accumulated over time. Thankfully, she had to undergo only the first two procedures namely vamana (therapeutic emesis) and virechana (purgation). They are meant to clear the upper and lower GI tracts. This required her to consume an extremely bitter medicated ghee apart from an entire bottle of a very bitter paste that had a jam like consistency to it. She swallowed all the pungent medicines prescribed to her without batting an eyelid. That was when I truly began appreciating her strong will and determination in a hope to put an end to this recurring condition.

She had to also follow a post-therapy dietary regime and undergo abhayanga (a body massage with warm herb-infused oils) that could eventually help to rejuvenate skin cells and tissues. These procedures gave her temporary relief from constant flare-ups and pain, but the sinus tracts that had been the real target, sadly remained undisturbed. The doctor had suggested that we consider leech therapy. It is a blood purification process that draws impure blood out of the body using medicinal leeches. Tina was hesitant to experiment with this process. There weren’t many HS patients who had reported of permanent relief from sinus tracts or long-term respite from puss-filled lesions.

Surgery performed by an Ayurvedic practitioner was also something we had considered but eventually decided against it for similar reasons. After four years of consuming several kinds of decoctions, distillation of herbs, medicinal powders, tablets and resins, HS continued to remain unresolved.

Staring over

Well, we were back to square one. We decided to head back to the US for another surgery. After having dealt with a medical emergency that had shaken our world, Tina was reluctant to go under the knife once again. But a surgery was imperative, and the only doctor I could think of entrusting my daughter’s life with was a senior staff physician at Henry Ford Hospital in Michigan. When he would examine her, he would not just merely collect information to formulate a diagnosis but also establish a bond that would provide comfort and reassurance.

Faith in your physician, as they say, is sometimes more important that the efficacy of a treatment. As for Ayurveda or any other form of medicine, there are several reasons like genetic differences, drug interactions, hormonal issues, poor metabolism, stomach conditions and so on that fail to bring the disease under control.