Ayurvedic Perspective on Pain Management

 

Whether chronic or short-term, pain affects more than a 100 million Americans today. We tend to suppress or ignore mild pain, because we need to keep going with our deadlines! That is, until pain comes back to haunt us, becomes chronic and disrupts our routine, our sleep, our lives. Pain management experts in our culture use different remedies ranging from medication to surgery. But most of the time, the pain either persists, or resurfaces in different ways, turning into a life-long condition.
Ayurveda acknowledges all kinds of pain and categorizes the types and sources accordingly. It is an in-depth topic and needs to be handled holistically. With SV Ayurveda, we use the classical texts for reference, the SVA lineage for its practical experience, and my personal experience of teaching and working with Ayurveda in the West for the past 20 years.

Pain can go by different names in Ayurveda:

-Vedana

-Peeda

-Tod

-Ruja

-Shool
In general, there are 2 main categories:

 

1. NIJ: biological or internal pain that originates from within the body. This could be due to doshic imbalances or accumulation, toxic build-up, inflammation, etc. A sedentary lifestyle, ongoing mental stress, a poor diet, etc can all contribute to bodily imbalances that can result in pain.

2. AGANTUJ : pain that originates from without or outside the body which includes: xenobiotics or exposure to toxic chemical fumes; events that cause physical and mental trauma; EMF or other electromagnetic fields that disrupt the physiology’s subtle flow of prana, as well as clog and damage the physical channels, tissues, and organs. 
Based on the hetu, the etiological factor of pain, the above conditions can create pain in four possible areas of our bodies:

 

in the shrotas or physical channel,

in the nadi-s vibrational channels,

in the angas, organs and organ systems,

in the the dhatus or tissues.
Based on the ayurvedic shastras, dis-ease goes through several stages of gestation before it reaches its final 6th irreversible stage. Similarly, unaddressed minor pain travels from one dhatu or tissue to another, diving deeper into the physiology, until it becomes chronic and may be impossible to address without major medical or surgical intervention. The deeper pain is allowed to travel, the more difficult it becomes to treat as it involves more aspects of our physiology. For example, when the pathogenic factors, whatever they might be, reach the bone marrow, this is the case for cancer conditions, then it becomes very difficult to manage even with the most powerful pain management processes of modern medicine.
 With SV Ayurveda, we categorize the management of pain into easy steps.

A) First find the hetu, the root cause of pain. Hetu-based or etiological-factor based assessment, whether created by the imbalance in the doshas (vata, pitta, kapha), or the subdoshas (5 vata, 5 pitta, 5 kapha), or resulting from blocked detox channels, due to ama, or amavisha. First determine whether the inflammation the individual is experiencing was created by external trauma; or garavisha (xen

obiotics); or is it due to the wear-and-tear in the channels; or is EMF disturbing the vibrational channels, sandhi-s or gaps? Or are the marma points clogged and toxically loaded?

In general, aching superficial overall pain means blockage or inflammation in the rasa and rakta channels or nadi-s, sandhi-s, whereby which marma points become compromised.  There are many ways of addressing this. Changing one’s diet and adjusting the work/rest routine are always recommended, but there are also herbs that can help through transdermal detox to alleviate pain. The following SVA management tips normally work very well, particularly in the presence of toxins, or imbalances, given that they have not gone beyond the mamsa dhatu or muscle tissue. I will discuss things further during our upcoming SVA cafe in the third week of June 2015. But, for now, the following protocol is safe and effective for general aching pain. Please note: any individual experiencing long term chronic pain, or known to carry a disease or condition resulting in pain must consult with their physician before adopting this or any SVA protocols or products.
General Body Aches: Use my “Detox and Relax bath pouches.” Massage your body with Vata massage oil with Magnesium and Vit D. Leave it on for 20 minutes, then take a bath with the bath pouches. Soak in for 10-15 minutes, then shower. This will help burn away and eliminate the ama of the physical channels, releasing the toxins from the body into the bath water.
The detox bath pouches contain magnesium, but not just that. The magnesium that we use is not just magnesium chloride from a natural source, but it is synergistically blended with different ayurvedic herbs that give it added potency. Magnesium has three unique properties: it nourishing , detoxifying and according to Ayurvedic principles, it also acts as a “yogwahi,” in other terms, it has sharp penetrating molecules that help it travel deep, specially when combined with other herbs, into deeper tissues, for deeper

 cleansing. This is why the SVA Detox and Relax bath pouches uses Magnesium along with the other ingredients, such as:
Moringa Oleifera leaf powder : a great detoxing and nurturing leaf with a long list of health-balancing properties

Lavender (Lavandula Officinalis) to relax

Neem (Azadirachta indica) for deeper and holistic cellular detox
Indian Sarsaparilla (Hemidesmus indicus) to pull out toxins from the fat tissue
Turmeric with magnesium,  turmeric balances the sharpness of magnesium, and magnesium helps take turmeric deeper into the tissues for detox
Likewise all my magnesium formulas: the Pitta oil with magnesium, the Vata oil with Magnesium and Vit D, the Ashwagandha oil with Magnesium all are based on Ayurvedic principles. You can read more on www.chandika.com
After the bath, apply DGL cream on specific areas like the calf muscles, or the joints.  First try DGL followed by SuperSport cream or roll-on. DGL will neutralize the inflammatory tendencies, and SuperSport will open the channels further and release the toxins that are causing the pain. 
Joint Pain:  use DGL and Maha Kanchanar cream. Apply on all joints and massage in gently in a circular movement twice a day.
Ayurvedic pharmacopeia offers a wide range of herbs that are used to address pain. When combined together into a synergistic blend, they can have a more potent effect for acute pain. I have gathered these herbs into one formula, currently called “HN Cream.” It can be used all over the body – except sensitive areas such as the eyes, ears, or open orifices –  on the knees, calf muscles or any painful area.
The HN cream contains the following ingredients that have been scientifically studied to carry specific pain relieving properties.
Gandh Prasarini  

Botanical name: Paederia Foetida

Properties: Anti-inflammatory, Antispasmodic, Anticancer, Hepatoprotective
This plant is very powerful vata pacifying herb. It cleans the blood tissue and pacifies shleshak kapha. It opens the channels and binds the toxins, taking them out. It also repairs the wear-and-tear of the channels created by the toxins. It’s most unique property is that it is three-dosha pacifying, nurturing the channels and reestablishing their intelligence.

Nirgundi

Botanical Name: Vitex nigundo

Properties: Anti-inflammatory, analgesic
This ingredient is particularly helpful for pacifying Vyana vata and Sleshaka kapha. It pacifies through cleansing the cellular system, relieving it of pain through its anti-inflammatory action, and by reestablishing the intelligence of the channels.

Sensitive plant

Biophytum Sensitivum Linn.

Anti-inflammatory, diuretic, sedative and tonic properties, antimicrobial

Sensitive Plant repairs the nerves, addresses inflammation by taking care of purifying the blood, and repairing cellular damage.
Brahmi

Bacopa Monnieri

Properties: For anxiety, backaches, joint pain, anti-stress

There are two brahmi plants, with distinct properties. One is called “mandukparni.”This is known as “gotu kola.” The other is Bacopa monnieri, also called “aindri.” Both are good for detoxifying the cellular system, and reestablishing its intelligence. Brahmi is particularly good for the nervous system, to help it calm down, and thus prevent inflammatory pain that may be resulting from stress.
Holy basil 

Ocimum Tenuiflorum

Analgesic, anticancer, antidiabetic, anti-stress, antifungal, for coughs, headaches, skin disorders, common cold
The Ayurvedic shastras know this plant to be light in its cellular property as well as warming. It thus burns the excessive sliminess of the channels, supporting the digestive and metabolic fire to burn away the ama or semi-digested food material. At the same time, it evacuates toxins. This herb is considered a divine healing herb in Ayurveda, it helps connect the vibrational and physical channels for optimal communication when used on the marma points. Its properties are enhances when used along with peppermint, ajwain, and camphor.

Peppermint

Mentha Piperita

Properties:  Anti-microbial, antioxidant, antiallergic

Increases cellular agni , burns ama, clears the channels, pacifies kapha and vata, and relieves pain associated with those doshas.
Ajwain 

Trachyspermum Ammi

Properties: Antibacterial, nematicidal
The Shastras explain that there can be no pain without vata aggravation, no vata aggravation without blockage in the physical and vibrational channels. Ajwain is very famous for burning away physical ama which blocks the physical channels, creatingpain. Ajwain pacifies vata and kapha, helps digestion food better, so no ama is made through  improper digestion. Ajwain has the power go to the deepest level of cellular system, to cleanse and reset things.
Camphor

Cinnamomum Camphora

Properties: Relives pain, reduces itching, counterirritant, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative

Being pungent and bitter, with a sweet after-effect, Camphor is perfect for pacifying  sleshak kapha and bhrajak pitta together. It carries the unique property of pulling out toxins from the cellular system, and that’s how it cools off the cellular system. It also opens the physical channels and supports the vibrational channels, due to its unique channel-opening quality.
At our last SVA Conference this May, course participants became very fond of the HN cream. They applied it for aches and pain on marma points as well as on their joints, shoulders, neck area. It is a very potent cream that is versatile in its use. Help us find a good name for it, enter our Namkaran competition. See below for more details.
Learn more about pain and its management at our upcoming SVA Cafe in June. See you at the Prana Center in Chatsworth California, or join us over the phone, live!