By Dr. Pradeep Neupane

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common digestive system disorder in these days. The exact cause of IBS is still unknown, but research has shown that it is triggered by lifestyle and stress.

IBS is described as a functional disorder of the small intestine, characterized by pain, discomfort and altered bowel habits. In Ayurveda, IBS is named as Grahani. The word Grahani means retaining the ability of the small intestine or duodenum. If the function of these organs is altered or the bowel loses its control – weakening its absorption – the condition is considered Grahani.

IBS is one of the common conditions of patients visiting Vibrant Ayurveda Wellness Centre for seeking of holistic management. Since the beginning of early 2007, many patients have received the Ayurvedic treatment and advice with our experts for the successful management of IBS. Patients visit the clinic in acute or chronic state of IBS, and see the progressive improvement withAyurvedic lifestyle and herbs.

Success report of IBS management of a client

Case History:

A female patient of 49 years appeared at the clinic in early Oct 2016 with a diagnosed condition of Chronic IBS since 18yrs of age. Her complains was 3-5 loose motion per day and occasionally 10-15 times in a day.

The other symptoms were musculoskeletal pain specially neck and back.

The treatment history for IBS with school medicine and took Ciprofloxacin for many months induced bad bacteria in colon and caused back pain according to her.

Family history of IBS to mother and history of Hepatitis during the school time.

She had a complain of bad sleep and prone to anxiety and her iron level was low.

Treatment History:

She has been trying different medical intervention and medicines. Also saw other types of alternative medicines and lately following a diet according to her knowledge.

Ayurvedic Diagnosis at Vibrant Ayurveda

On her first visit in Oct, a detailed history was taken including her diet and lifestyle. Upon checking her pulse, tongue, nails and eyes, Ayurvedic diagnosis was made; Prakriti (Mind-Body Constitution) and Vikriti(Imbalance).

Ayurvedic Management:

Following the classical concept of IBS management in Ayurveda, she was advised to undergo Panchakarma therapy for 2 weeks. A panchakarma programme was tailored considering her major complaints. A detox diet programme was made and she did internal preparation at home with some herbs and a medicated ghee to drink for 5 days. Following treatments at the clinic, Abhyanga (therapeutic massage) with medicinal oil and herbal steam bath was performed. The internal detox includes herbal therapeutic enemas and two different types of enemas were done; oil enema and herbal decoction enema. 5 days of regular therapeutic massage, steam bath and herbal enemas was done at the clinic under the supervision of Ayurveda professionals.

On follow up visit after finishing the 2 weeks detox, she shared the happiness of controlled bowel movement with a lot more energies and less musculoskeletal pain. Then she was prescribed some compound Ayurvedic herbal formulas and long term diet plan.

Dietary Regimens

Personalized diet program was given considering her previous diet habit. She was mostly eating raw food like smoothies, heavy food and cold food. She was advised to eat cooked, warm, fresh, light and preferably vegetarian diet. She followed the Kitchari recipe which is called as Ayurvedic detox food for some times after detox too.

Herbal Prescription

We stock the genuine, classical Ayurvedic medicines from authentic companies from southern India, Kerala. The prescription includes compound herbs like Vilwadi Gulika, Chiruvilwadi Kashayam etc. This formula includes some beautiful Ayurveda herbs like Bilva – Bael (root) – Aeglemarmelos,  Holy Basil – Ocimum sanctum, Karanja – Indian Beech (bark / seed) – Pongamiapinnata, Nata – Indian valerian (root) – Valerianawallichi, Surahva – Himalayan cedar (bark) – Cedrusdeodara, Haritaki – Chebulic Myrobalan fruit rind – Terminaliachebula, Vibhitaki – Belliric Myrobalan fruit rind – Terminaliabellirica, Amalaki – Indian gooseberry fruit – Emblicaofficinalis Gaertn., Shunti – Ginger Rhizome – Zingiberofficinalis, Maricha – Black pepper – Piper nigrum etc.

During the follow up visit after a month, she was very excited to feel the big difference on her digestive issues.

In fact, she followed the diet, lifestyle and herbal advises seriously. She feels that she is not having IBS anymore. Just for after detox regimen and rejuvenation, she continued some herbs and she got free from major gut issues in 3 months of period.

Conclusion:

This is an example of a true success history among many healing stories. Ancient science Ayurveda recognizes the treatment of cause rather than the treatment of symptoms only. Most of the disease in modern days are self-created by inappropriate food and lifestyle named as lifestyle disease. Ayurveda says, disease always starts from the gut due to weak digestion.  This particular patient undergoes the detox for the cleansing of the gut. Enemas was done to flush out the impurities and metabolites residing in the large intestine. This ultimate result was not the surprise but the real holistic treatment. Ayurveda advise to perform Panchakarma regularly during the seasonal transit and atleast 1-2 times a year not only for the management of disease but for prevention of illness too.

Ayurveda practitioners at vibrant Ayurveda are ready to share more healing stories with you. For more information about Panchakarma, follow our homepage or call us back.

(Dr.Pradeep Neupane is the Clinical Director, Vibrant Ayurveda Wellness Centre. www.vibrantayurveda.com.au )