Panchakarma - Western Medicine Vs Eastern Holistic Health
November 13th 2007 02:15
Shiva
They were such open questions with so many variables that I answered hesitantly; ‘Blue, I guess? Yellow maybe? I’d say I have a pretty good memory doctor’.
I was afraid of giving a misleading answer - I like green foods and blue jeans, yellow t-shirts and brunettes. I can remember quotes but not names. I hadn’t seriously considered my favourite colours since I was a child - was that a bad sign?. This doctor had a confident yet detached manner, which was somehow reassuring. He kept gazing of into the distance for minutes at a time and asking questions while facing the Ganges, instead of me. My pulse and blood pressure were checked, my tongue knowingly scrutinised and my weight recorded. At the end of the consultation I was told I was a Kapha - Vatta mix with a Pitta imbalance. These three labels are known as the Doshas and at the time entirely meaningless to me.
You can check your own Dosha following this link
Western medicine uses a technique of discombobulation to mesmerise the patient in the clinical situation, separating them from the doctors, nurses and technicians. They employ acronyms and Latin and other medical language that may as well be Swahili to the uninitiated patient. Told what to wear, when to eat, but never really what to expect, the patient is whisked through the process, like an object on a manufacturing line, without ever really understanding the root cause of their ailment; unless you are fat, smoke or drink.
The patient is interrogated, and answers are met with serious ‘hmmms’ and ‘ahhhs’. Suddenly pushed through double doors into a room full of noisy, complex machinery and strangers hiding behind masks, the patient is tacitly but emphatically reminded that it is the body which is of concern, not the mind or any other aspect of life and the only part to play in the healing procedure is presenting on time, answering questions and obeying instructions; there is no need to understand what is happening.
It seemed a similar but less severe process in Ayurveda. Baffling questions were asked;
‘Does your mood change quickly?
Describe your stools.
Do you like icecream and cold foods?
Are your fingernails oily?
Do you walk with a slow, measured gait?’.
Suddenly I was almost naked and lying on my back with a strange contraption suspended above my head. The masseurs were discussing things gravely in Hindi as if they really didn’t want me to understand what they were saying. It is hard not to feel vulnerable in your underwear in front of strangers. Despite this vulnerability I felt confident: I knew my Dermatologist never asked me if I liked to do things in a slow, relaxed fashion or very quickly, or what colours my dreams were.
Lying there on my back, with bits of kneaded dough being pressed onto my eyes and my forehead and a pot of warm oil being prepared to cascade over my cranium, I wondered if there was something therapeutic about ignorance, if it was a necessary ingredient for the success of healing, as it seemed endemic of all medicine, for all time; one does not question the ways of the witchdoctor - his methods are inscrutable as he has access to knowledge and wisdom beyond your ken. Nor do you question the wisdom of medical science, at least not until it’s too late. I mused optimistically if ignorance improved the efficaciousness of the treatment, I was hopeful; because I did not have a clue about what was going on.
Shirdhara
I read up a little on the procedure and the underlying concept of holistic Indian medicine. According to Ayurvedic science there are three substances in the human body that govern the processes of growth and decay. When out of balance these properties can cause disease and physical ailments. Due to my particular constitution I was prescribed Neem tablets, blood purifying pills and given a fairly limited diet, which bafflingly forbade both specific meals and entire food groups.
The catalogue excluded meat, cold foods, sour tastes such as citrus fruits, salty foods, pickles, astringent and bitter foods, rice, fish mixed with milk and of course caffeine, tobacco and alcohol. When pressed the doctor conceded 40ml of unspecified liquor a day. On the plus side, I was allowed to eat leafy vegetables, which I took to be spinach, lettuce, cabbage and broccoli, mung dhal, fish (without milk, ugghh), sweet tastes and brown bread. I pushed him to add another 20mls of alcohol to my daily ration, so I could enjoy 2 scotches before midnight and two after, but he wouldn’t budge.
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