Spine Disease Problem Causes Symptoms Treatment As Per Ayurveda And Traditional Healing Methods
Spine Disease like : Arthritis - Degenerative Disc Disease - Herniated Disc - Spinal Stenosis - Spondylosis
All of you might have heard many quotes on spine because of its importance in our body. Among them a very famous quote by Joseph Pilates says “A man is as young as his spine is flexible”,means spine is the backbone of the body.
Considered to be one of the most marvelous engineering of our body created by God, the human spine comprises of 33 individual bones called as ‘vertebrae’, stacked like interlocking blocks one on top of each other, with a cushion like soft-tissue structure between them known as ‘discs’ to bear the load. The flexibility and posture of the body depends on spine healthy structure.The spine is a core element of the central nervous system by being a channel connected by various nerves carrying impulses from brain to whole body and vice-versa ,thus the movement of the whole body is controlled by the brain.
In Ayurveda, the spine is termed as ‘merudanda’ ,‘meru’ means spine and ‘danda’ is spinal cord. Any structural or functional impairment in spine may lead to vast variety of severe spinal disorders which may hamper individual daily routine activities. Various other reasons affecting it are degeneration, aging, accident, malignancy, injuries, infections, improper and prolong sitting posture, genetics, lifestyle etc.
Spine Disorder
Now a days, with the increasing sedentary lifestyle, improper sitting posture habits, low calcium intake, wrong methods of exercises, postures, etc. – spine disorders are becoming more common. Some spinal disorders are:
- Osteoporosis, lumbar disc herniation, spondylosis, spondylolisthesis, myelopathy, ankylosing spondylitis, spinal stenosis, dorsalgia.
- Spinal disorders triggered by traumatic accidents are: vertebrae fracture, ligament tear.
- Other congenital and structural defects – Spina bifida, Cauda equina syndrome, Scoliosis, kyphosis, lordosis, Malignancy, spinal tumor, Pott’s disease.
Ayurvedic View Of Spine Disorder
As per Ayurveda, any activity is caused due to vata dosha because of its ‘chala’ guna or property. Vata name itself has a meaning of movement as describe in shlok:
तत्र ‘वा ‘ गतिगन्धनयोरिति धातु:l सु .सूत्र 21/5
The meaning of the above shloka is that the word “Vata” originates from the dhatu ‘Va’ which describes gati (movement) and enthusiasm. So, spinal disorders which hampers the activity,movement and posture of the body can be considered under vata vyadhi.
Many signs and symptoms founded in spinal disorder can be seen in vata vyadhi also as shosh, pangu, kubjatva, sankoch and many more described in shloka given below:
सङ्कोच: पर्वाणां स्तम्भो भेदोsस्थानम् पर्वाणामपि।लोमहर्षः प्रलापश्र्च पाणिपृष्टशिरोग्रहः ।
खाञ्ज्यपाङ्गुल्यकुब्जत्वं शोषोsङ्गानामनिद्रता ∣∣ च .चि .28/20
At the same time other doshas can also get influenced by vata dosha and may cause more complicated spinal disorders.Hence,spinal disorders are caused by all three vitiated doshas with vata dominant hence,the treatment should be given according to doshas.
Ayurvedic Management Of Spine Disorder
In modern science many spine disorders require surgical intervention which is avoided in Ayurveda. Ayurveda is miraculous science with which many complicated spine diseases can be cured from the root without any surgical interventions. Ayurveda treatment includes panchakarma therapy for spinal disorders as basti, katibasti, snehana, swedana, agnikarma, viddha karma, meru chikitsa, lepam.
Basti is the main treatment to eliminate toxins and maintains vata dosha with the use of various medicated oils and decoctions. Other than panchakarma, conservative treatment is also given with proper yoga and postural correction exercises or training.Thus, patients receive a healthy and happy life.Any kind of spinal disorders should never be ignored, before getting into the worst condition.But here in AMCT’s Ayurvedic treatment centers, you can get a complete treatment digged deeply from roots of ayurveda.
