Treatment

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Why I went to India

Years ago, I had some minor health problems. 

I had been to India several times as part of my studies of their philosophy,  language, and culture. A teacher with whom I had studied  there suggested that I come to India and get treatment from a traditional doctor there. "What do you have to lose?"  So I went.  

Coming to India is a treat for me: a chance to get away from the normal pressures of living and scrutinize my life.  My life here is contemplative, exhilarating, at times frustrating, and often quite moving. That sounds like a prescription for health in itself, doesn't it?!

Ayurveda - What it is

India's traditional medicine is said to have evolved over thousands of years.  It involves herbs, oils, sometimes diet, and lifestyle.  India has long recognized that attitude is a major component of health. The doctor from whom I get treatment, a Dr. Raghavan, began his studies before he was a teenager.  He is also a licensed MD in India, one of the few who have both modern and traditional credentials..

The treatment process involves some pretty far out stuff.  I came here with an open mind and hope that you won't think any less of me once you've seen what it's all about.  I visited the clinic with an Indian MD before deciding to seek treatment there,  She observed that there seemed to be patients where improvement was reported but she was unable to explain the healing using Western models.

Has it helped me?  Well,  the minor symptoms that I had are gone but, frankly, many people with MS have very mild symptoms that come and go during the initial stages.  So, I have no objective, empirical evidence of healing. Treatment with alternative medicine is frequently confusing: there are seldom double-blind, controlled clinical studies.  There are anecdotes galore. And no doubt there is a lot of auto-suggestion and placebo effects... not all of which is bad.

We all want to believe.  And   believe I do.  But, (to quote HHSDS) "A belief is a judgement before knowledge, subject to change upon verification."  In the U.S., the National Institute of Health is doing some controlled studies on alternative medicines, including Ayurveda. I hope these studies and others will establish objectively to what degree various alternative modalities are efficacious.  Otherwise, Ayurveda and other non-Western approaches will likely fade into history. And, the loss of alternative approaches to healing (as well as visions and values) will be an enormous loss to humanity.

What if I have a re-occurrence of symptoms?  Will that disprove Ayurveda?  Nope: when I was ten years old I had some childhood cold. The doctor prescribed some medicine but the next day I still as ill as I had before I went to the doctor.  I complained to my mother and she said, "How do you know how sick you'd have been if you hadn't gotten the medicine."  I believe that this is the correct way to think. 

You want magic?  Here's magic...

Ayurveda treats the person as a whole rather than a collection of symptoms and systems. It uses the pulse to diagnose not only disease, but the entire state of the body and mind. I was initially very suspicious. How could the pulse tell such details, I wondered. When I met the doctor 1997, he took my wrist in his hand and held it lightly for a minute or so. He then asked, "What do you do?" I told him, "Computers." He responded, "Do you ever stop?" He seemed to know I was working 70 hours a week at my job and was stressed out. But, I chalked this up to a lucky guess on his part and my tired look. Now for the story: After some months in 1997, the doctor was reading my pulse occasionally and one evening commented that the disease was gone. I was angered because I still had symptoms and felt this was a manipulation on his part. But, due to the nature of our relationship, I couldn’t challenge him… One evening, I had what was not an infrequent event where I felt a very minor tingling ("pins and needles") behind my right knee. "Damn it!" I thought, "there’s a symptom. Tomorrow, I’m going to show that doctor I do have symptoms." Here’s the setup: I was living alone, no phone. It was 9pm. I went to sleep and got up at 6am and walked to the clinic. I wasn’t limping, I had no pain. I spoke to no one. No one saw me arrive at the clinic. I sat in a folding chair on the patio where treatment is given. The doctor came out of a room and, uncharacteristically for this time of day, took my wrist  and held it in his hand while I sat. He then faced me, stood between my knees, reached down took my ankle and straightened my leg. With his other hand reached behind the knee and rubbed the very spot of the tingling for a few moments. Then, characteristically, he abruptly turned and walked away. This was the only time during my stay when he took the pulse in that setting or massaged me in any way after having taken it. I was somewhat dumbfounded. I have no explanation for his behavior except that indeed they do read the pulse somehow. My MD in Denver, (who, not knowing I was getting Ayurvedic treatment, suggested I do so) when I discussed the pulse with her, said, "I think if we get very quiet, there are things we can know which otherwise remain hidden." I think my doctor in India would agree, although I’ve never discussed this with him…

One of the main forms of treatment in this clinic is called Shiro-Vasti.  A lengthy, traditional process is used to prepare vegetable oil: cooking it over fire with various locally grown herbs.  The process is described in a variety of written texts dating back centuries.

(Remember, you can click on the photos below for a larger version.)

Then flour paste is applied to the patient's head and a cloth band is wrapped around the head.

Yes, I'd agree that the whole thing looks unbelievably weird. 

I don't vouch for it in any way; I just exposed myself to a alternate form of medicine that is part of a classical culture that, millennia before today, had impressive credentials in many disciplines, including the arts and sciences and philosophy.

After the paste has been applied, a piece of leather is wrapped around the head in the form of a stovepipe top hat.  The gentleman doing the treatment in these pictures is Dr. Prabodh, one of four sons of Dr. Raghvan, all doctors themselves. Almost all treatment is done outside on this patio by the river:

Paste is applied on the inside seam to prevent leaks and additional cloth tape is wrapped in an attempt to prevent leaks:

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The oil is heated to body temperature and then poured in:

During the following hour, the oil is ladled out and rewarmed several times. The pulse is taken.  I'm told that the pulse changes as the body responds to the oil.  The whole process seems kind of strange to our eyes, I know. 

Unfortunately, sometimes the oil leaks.   And, yes, that's a frown on my face in the photo below.  It's a pain in the neck when you have a leak:

The second part of treatment is an oil massage followed by an hour letting it soak in. This is somewhat messy: they pour a liter of warmed oil over me. The massage table is a single piece of wood 3" thick with a raised lip and channel to flow the oil into a collection nozzle.

I take 20 liters of this oil back to the US each year and massage it in and sit for an hour every day. You know, having an enforced period of sitting (because after-all, you can't just jump up and run off and do something else when you've got oil over over) confers benefits in itself.  It's a nice relaxing time for meditation. 

Here is another view of me coming up from the oil soak.  I still have the flour paste on my head from the preceding procedure. The river is in the background:

The final step of the morning is to get medicated water poured over me. This is the walkway into a dark cave-like room where it's done... notice the banana tree leaves in the background.:

First, cold water on the head. Once again, I lay on a thick piece of wood:

Then, warm water over the rest of the body:

Finally, I get to remove the flour paste and oil.  The room below is the shower for the clinic.  It's a single, cold water facet at knee height. In the photo, I'm on my knees taking off the paste.  Then I'll use the bucket and a plastic mug to pour water over me. I don't think the Indian patients know what to make of my yelps and screams as I pour the cold water over myself.

Below is a photo from the clinic patio of the ferry.  At its right end is the boatsman who is using a pole to push across the river.

Below is a view from the clinic.  Across the river is a temple from which music can at times be heard. People can frequently be heard and seen washing their clothes by pounding them on its steps.