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Ayurveda > Ayurvedic Treatment > Ashtang-Ayurved: Basti
By Dr. Satish Kulkarni.
 In the articles
so far, we have been introduced to
pre-procedures like snehan (olation
therapy) and swedan
(fomentation therapy). We have
further discussed vaman (induced
vomiting) and virechan
(purgation therapy). This article
will elaborate the procedure of basti
i.e. ayurvedic enema.
Basti means
introducing liquids like medicated
oils, herbal concoctions and milk per
perineum (through the anus, urinary meatus or vaginal orifice (in women)
in order to clean or supplement the
lower part of the body (below
umbilical part). The ama
(toxins) accumulated in the lower
part of the body or the ama
pushed to the lower digestive tract,
urinary tract or reproductive tract
by pre-procedures like snehan
or swedan can be cleared by basti.
Basti is
effective for vaat prakop
(aggravation of vaat (one of
the three basic body constituents)). Basti
shows good results in all kinds of vaat
disorders like musculo-skeletal
disorders, rheumatic joint pains and
chronic headaches related to nervous
disorders and digestive disorders. Basti
is effective in most of the digestive
disorders like dry colon and dry
rectum condition and tendency towards
constipation resulting from this. It
also provides relief in conditions
like distention of abdomen,
flatulence, spastic colon, dryness of
digestive tract observed in chronic
fever, etc. In general body debility,
senile debility, impaired immunity,
muscular dystrophy and bed ridden
conditions like paralysis, basti
can be used to give some energy
supplementation to body, the mucous
membrane of rectal canal being a semi
permeable membrane. Basti is
also used for cleaning and nourishing
the urinary tract and the
reproductive tract in men and women.
Types of basti:
There are 8
main types of basti. Anuvasana
basti (medicated oil enema), niruha-asthapana
basti (herbal decoction enema), uttar
basti (cleaning the urinary
bladder by passing a catheter,
cleaning the birth passage in women
by giving a vaginal douche), matra
basti (limited oil enema taken
daily for 3 or 7 days), yoga basti
(scheduled enema for 1 week), kala
basti (scheduled enema for 15
days), karma basti (scheduled
enema for 1 month) and lastly bruhan
basti (nutritional enema).
It is under
observation of the ayurvedic therapist
that conditions like persistent
hiccup, rectal pathologies like
fissures, fistulas, piles, anal and
rectal spasm, constipation in
pregnancy, abdominal flatulence etc.
respond well to decoction enema.
Metabolic
disorders like diabetes, obesity,
conditions like lymphatic
obstructions, ascitis, urinary
problems and birth canal problems
(especially in women) respond better
to nutritional enema and conditions
like digestive disorders, mandagni
(impaired body fire) etc. respond
well to oil enema.
Contraindications:
Basti is
contraindicated in all types of
diarrheas, dysenteries, per rectal
bleeding, diabetes, severe anaemia,
hypoproteinaemia, breathlessness
associated with any problem and raj-yakshma
( pulmonary tuberculosis). It is also
contraindicated in infantile problems
and senile debility.
In short,
basti is a treatment of choice in
vaat predominated conditions
and shows the desired effects when
carried out scientifically. <.p>
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