Ayurveda Home remedies for Pain

Ayurveda, the science of life was the first system taught about the ‘Food as Medicine’ concept. In every context of physiology to pathology and prognosis Ayurveda was the only medical system talks about qualities of foods and its good and bad effects.

In this context, I am talking about Ayurveda’s top 10 pain killers; I should call it as ‘Top 10 Kitchen pain killers’ The most important factor is that all these recommendations are currently very well validated by the modern medical system.

1.         Fresh Ginger to ease muscular pain – Ayurveda recommends 5 gm of fresh ginger or 2 gm dried ginger as part of diet to prevent and manage muscular and joint pains.  One of research from Denmark has shown Ginger’s positive effects on reducing swelling and stiffness. They have very well documented the physiological results of ‘Gingerols’ which is effective for reducing all kinds of pain

2.        Clove for Tooth Ache – Ayurveda was the only system to recommend spices for pain management. Indians very well uses the clove powder or oil to beat the tooth ache and tooth problems. A team of researchers from US have documented the effects eugenol – one of the active components from clove for its anesthetic and anti bacterial effects. They also have documents that the intake of 2 gm of clove powder improves cholesterol ratio, maintains the PH in the GIT Tract which in turn prevents all kinds of oral infections.

3.        Vinegar for Heart Burn - Do you know that Ayurveda was the first system to talk about preparing different kinds of Vinegars and its therapeutic and medical effects.  Ayurveda recommends 30 ml of Vinegar after a heavy meal can make the digestion and metabolism smoother. One of teams of US colon and digestive disease center have documented the good results of Vinegar especially the Apple cider one.  They have found that the mallic and tartaric acids are the components which help in the breakdown of harder, bigger food particles to smaller easily digestible ones.

4.        Garlic for Ear Ache:  If you are from a village back ground, you would know about this use of Garlic. Traditionally, Garlic is used to treat ear aches.  The practice is pouring warm garlic oil 2 drops into the paining ear for 5-11 days heals it completely. In a study conducted by Mexican scientists, it is evident that the active ingredients of garlic like germanium, selenium and sulfur contents have physiological positive effects on pain causing chemicals secreted by common bacterial infection.

5.        Cherries for Pain: Ayurveda the science of life recommends cherries as a part of diet to win and prevent pain. Some of the researches have shown that the anthocyanins, which are the active ingredients in any cherries, have ten times more positive effects on Killing pain than common pain killers like Ibuprofen etc. without any side effects.

6.       Fish for Stomach problems: Most of us think that Ayurveda is vegetarian system. But the truth is Ayurveda recommends as much as non vegetarian foods for better health. For example, Conditions like Indigestion, Irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel syndrome etc Ayurveda recommends as much as 200 gm of specified fish as diet. Ayurveda also opines that the waist size can very well be controlled by fish diet. Modern researches do agree about this as the EPA and DHA are the powerful anti inflammatory chemicals in fish are ten times more effective than the common corticosteroids.

7.        Buttermilk for PMS: Ayurveda recommends Buttermilk for Pre and post menopausal syndromes and menstrual pains. One of research conducted in the Yale University has shown the positive results of buttermilk in women gynecological troubles. The richness in calcium helps calm down the physical and psychological irritability in PMS.

8.       Reversing Diabetic pain with Turmeric: Ayurveda recommends use of turmeric as a part of diet to prevent the complications of Diabetes and pain.  One of the researches has shown positive results of turmeric in healing pain in arthritis and fibromyalgia in Diabetic patients.

9.       Salt to ease foot pain: As per the internet research foot pain is the condition affects everyone irrespective of age, sex, region etc. Ayurveda is the first system to recommend salted hot water therapy for foot pain.  As many researches has shown the salt’s anti bacterial effects and anti inflammatory properties. One of the research from Stanford University shows that the regular soaking of infected parts in warm salt water acts better than the tropical pain killers and anti biotics.

10.     Honey for Mouth Sores: Ayurveda recommends honey gargle for mouth sores. Even as general practice as part of Dina Charya Honey gargle is recommended for better voice, improved speech and to prevent all type oral inflammations and infections. One of the research conducted in the Dubai Medical center suggest that honey gargle heals the mouth sores 47% better than any medicines, creams available in the market. Honey is extremely effective in reducing the inflammation, improving the tissue healing is the verdict of the research

11.       Muscle cramps with Tamarind Juice: Ayurveda recommends Tamarind juice to manage acute muscle cramps. An authentic research shows that the potassium deficiency usually leads to muscle cramps and one out of four aged more than 40 suffers from this condition. 50 ml of diluted tamarind juice is effective in bringing back the blood potassium levels – researchers say.

Ayurveda the science of life recommends something called ‘Dina Charya’ – daily regimen for the health and wellness of each and every individual and for the society. Unfortunately, in this fast paced life we not only lost the habit of following it but health benefits of these which led to ill health and innumerable numbers of medicine intake. All these above advises does not require much time, effort or cost. All it required is inclusion as part of diet or practiced as part of day. Even though these remedies look simpler, but the benefits are priceless.