Hairfall and thinning of hair are both vast subjects encompassing various diseases and treatments for the same. Here, we will look at some commonly occurring reasons and types of hairfall and deal with them.
Disclaimer - Hair that has already fallen off will not regrow using any of these home remedies, but they can help stop the hair from falling even further and increase the strength and health of the hair.
Let us start by enlisting the type of hairfall and what is needed to stop it.
Type 1 - Pitta related hairfall
Here patients generally have a high amount of hairfall and a few of these associated symptoms.
1. Acidity
2. Headache
3. Loose motions on eating anything spicy
4. Anger and irritation
5. Red spots on back and shoulder
6. Acne
7. Reduced quantity of sleep.
Treatment - If any of these symptoms are seen along with your hairfall then you must follow the home remedies in the following video
Type 2 - Dandruff
A very common reason for excessive hairfall is dandruff. If you are suffering from a flaky scalp, it can cause the roots of the hairs to be affected. This then weakens the nourishment of the hair resulting in hair loss.
Treatment - For dandruff kindly follow these home remedies
Type 3 - Calcium Deficiency
A lot of times, we do not even realize that we have a lack of calcium in the body and this generally is seen more in women above the age of 40, though nowadays it is seen in men and women of all ages.
To find out whether there is a calcium deficiency, a blood test is required but there are also obvious signs for the same and also some things to look out for.
These are
1. Breaking of nails
2. Constant tooth related problems
3. Family History of osteoporosis
4. White spots or streaks on nails.
Treatment - A simple home remedy of mixing bitter neem leaves' juice 10ml in cow's ghee(10ml) and having it daily on an empty stomach will solve this problem in a few weeks. Also having cow's milk with 1 tablespoon of cow's ghee generally suffices calcium deficiency through diet.
Insomnia in lay-man terms means lack of sleep. When there is a lack of sleep, tiredness and fatigue are always present.
Ayurveda classifies insomnia as a symptom of 2 different functional abnormalities, and hence to cure such insomnia, it is important to identify the type of insomnia present.
Type 1 - Here the patient gets to sleep on time but keeps waking up throughout the night and hence the sleep is disturbed.
Associated symptoms are symptoms most commonly seen with this kind of a problem, it does not mean that all of them must exist for you to have a type 1 problem.
These are -
Slimming down (except the stomach which remains bloated)
Black discolourations in patches in the body (including dark circles)
Attraction towards heat and intolerance towards cold like a direct draft of fan or AC.
Tremors and Palpitations
Stomach is distended
Constipation
Lack of strength and sharpness of the senses
Excessive and incoherent thoughts
Dizziness
Meekness
Treatment - Avoid "dry food" such as sev, mumra, popcorn, kurmura, chevda, khari, khakhra, makhana, biscuits, etc. Start increasing the amount of cow's ghee in food (you will not gain weight, so do not worry). Eat a slightly heavy meal at night. Before sleeping, eat a ball of jaggery and ghee and eat it before sleeping or drink a glass of cow's milk with 1tbsp of cow's ghee (do any 1 not both together). Methi, pippalimoola etc if had regularly for dinner is also beneficial.
Type 2 - Here the patient does not keep waking up throughout the night but is not able to sleep for the hours required. Either his/her sleep breaks early or does not get sleep until late into the night
Associated symptoms are -
Acidity
Headache
Hair fall
Greying of hair
Acne
Anger and Irritation
Red spots on the shoulder and back
Soft and loose motions
Burning in hands and legs
Attracted towards cold.
Treatment - Avoid "sour, spicy food". Also avoid fermented items like idli, dosa, dhokla, alcohol, bread, dahi, dahi-items like chaas, lassi, kadhi as well. 2 drops of melted cow's ghee should be taken in each nostril during the day time and inhaled deeply. This solves the problem very fast. Also if cow's milk is taken with 1tbsp cow's ghee just before sleeping, it helps tremendously. Pranayamas like "Shitali" pranayama must be done before going to sleep.
Also for details on these home remedies, refer to my video on Insomnia-
As soon as any substance is kept on our tongue, digestion
starts. The saliva has an enzyme called ptylin that starts digesting sugar and
hence digestion occurs throughout the gastro-intestinal tract (GI tract).
Digestion is a process of breaking down food into smaller,
easily absorb-able substances. The nutrients are absorbed and they travel
throughout the body via blood and give nutrition to every cell and tissue in
the body.
When we talk about digestion, we talk about two major
processes,
Breaking down of food particles into smaller, easily
absorb-able substances.
Absorption of these particles and transmission of these nutrients in blood.
A majority of breaking down occurs by the time the food
exits the small intestine and a majority of absorption occurs when the food in
is the large intestine.
Elimination is a process of removal of waste products, and
here we will focus on faecal excretion.
I have seen that many-a-times there is a confusion where
indigestion is understood to be constipation. This is incorrect as digestion
and elimination are two different processes.
The ways in which to diagnose indigestion are as follows
Test 1
Tongue - If your tongue is coated white, yellow, blue or
black then it means you have indigestion and the colour of the coating in
increasing order shows the intensity of it.
Test 2
Stools - When you pass motions, if your stools (faecal
matter) sinks in water, it is also an indication of indigestion.
Indigestion is the root cause for most diseases and hence
must be treated immediately. For treatment of indigestion refer to this video
below.
For treatment of constipation, view this video below.
For treatment of loose motions, view this video below.
Joint pain can restrict movement and bring forth pain in the body. In ayurveda, treating joint pain is very easy.
The key is to understand which category your joint pain fits in. Failure to understand the type of joint pain can lead to the wrong treatment. There are three major
categories of joint pain, according to ayurveda.
1. The first of which is called
"aamvata"(pain due to undigested food in the body). In this category, the patient suffers from "shifting
joint pain" or the pain which migrates from joint to joint. Sometimes it
is the elbow, sometimes it is the knee, sometimes the shoulder. This condition
will also show swelling and stiffness of the joints and relief on exercise or
movement and massages. Oil application on the other hand will increase the pain
and worsen the situation. Symptom : The tongue of such a patient will be coated and even
after scraping the tongue, the coating will persist. This demonstrates that there is "aam" or undigested food in the body. The pain and stiffness
will reduce as the sun goes up but in the morning hours, it can be unbearable.
This sort of migrating pain has to be dealt with differently than the other
types. Diet : The diet has to be light that can be easily digested. It
should comprise of moong, rice, digestive soups, boiled vegetables and easily digested food. The
person must avoid all dairy products (except cow's milk, cow's ghee and butter, which are good lubricants),
non veg food, bread, biscuits and other bakery products, raw foods like salads,
sour, spicy or fermented food (idli, curd, bread etc), fried food. One must exercise daily either brisk
walking for 2 to 3 kilometers or by practising yoga postures. Once the undigested food is digested, the pain will vanish and one can resume one's normal lifestyle.
2. The second type of joint pain is known as "vata-rakta" (air movement due to vitiated blood), wherein the pain and swelling starts from small joints like the
finger joint in the hand or the toes but soon all the joints in the
body get involved. This could be because of an increase in the serum creatinine levels
and/or uric acid levels of the patients that suffer from this condition. There
is a vitiation of blood here along with increase in air element in the body (vata dosha) and therefore skin problems and
nervous problems are sometimes associated with this disease. Symptom: The patient does
not have a white coating on the tongue but feels as if air is moving when the
joint is pressed. Anything hot and spicy becomes unbearable to the patient and
he feels as if the pain is pricking and comes in waves or spasms. Patients sometimes burp when any of these affected joints are pressed. Diet: This condition requires the
patient to take diet that is easily digestable but not very hot in potency.
Blood-letting (Raktamokshan) is a process in ayurveda wherein the dushit or
vitiated blood is sucked out of the body. This process is very effective in this
disease. The person should not eat anything dry, should avoid things like bhel,
popcorn, khakra, khari biscuits etc, not have anything heavy to digest like
wheat or wheat products including bread, biscuits, etc. The person should use a
lot of cow's ghee and cow's milk and should compulsorily avoid cold food and
drinks.
3. The third type of joint pain is one of the
most common types known as "Sandhigata Vata."(Air vitiation in joints) Symptoms: The person suffering
from this type will have swelling and pain in the joint. This pain may be a
dull pain throughout the day or a sharp spasmatic pain. It is said in the
ayurvedic scriptures that the swelling feels as if it is filled with air(vayu).
This pain generally starts in one of the major joints like knee, sholder,
lumbar, cervical, elbow or ankle joints. It then spreads to all joints
eventually. The X-ray generally shows osteophytes and osteoarthritic or
osteoporotic changes. This type of joint pain is divided into 2 sub-categories:
Upasthambhit
sandhigatavata- In this type of joint pain, the patient has a coating
on the tongue, stiffness in the morning, relief on massage, relief on
exercise and pain decreases as the day moves on. For this type of pain,
the patient should take light diet like mentioned in "aamvata,"
also the patient should add dry ginger powder (sooth) to the normal drinking
water in the ratio of 1 tbsp per litre. Exercise daily is a must for help
in relieving pain. Avoid sleeping during day time and stay as active as
possible. For such a patient, staying active and exercising despite the
pain will give tremendous relief eventually.
Nirupasthambit
sandhigatavata- In this type of joint pain, the patient has no coating
on the tongue, no stiffness in the morning, pain increases on massage,
there is more pain on exercising and the pain increases as the day moves
on. For this type of pain, the patient should take more kadva or bitter
food. Milk and milk products are extremely helpful with the exception of curd or dahi. Smoking and drinking is extremely harmful to such a person, and
cow's ghee is extremely beneficial to the same. Rest and day sleeping is
beneficial to such a person. Ayurvedic medication is a must to improve the
condition as it does not improve significantly on its own but is very
easily cured compared to the other types of joint pain by ayurveda.
There are other diseases and reasons of back pain which may not be mentioned or explained here. Also have a look at my video
describing a concise view and home remedies for the same.
Weakness or Fatigue is not a disease but a symptom that
could be related to or caused due to a disease. Weakness and fatigue reduces general efficiency and hence affects output levels substantially. Fatigue can exist even without physical exercise and this is due to mental exertion and stress which we call psychological or mental fatigue. We will also deal with this today.
As fatigue is commonly associated with many diseases, certain symptoms must be taken seriously, if noticed. These are
1. Loose motions - A lot of people have constant loose motions
wherein the stools are loose or not well formed. This is one of the main reasons behind
weakness and can be cured by using these simple home remedies if not then visit a doctor immediately.
2. Sudden Weight Loss - If you have witnessed a sudden drop in
weight with weakness and fatigue then immediately see a doctor and get yourself
tested for TB.
3. Constant and Excessive Coughing - If there is constant coughing and
weakness associated with it, meet with a doctor immediately and again get yourself tested for TB.
4. Dizziness and blackouts - If there is dizziness, blackouts and fainting, it could well mean that your blood pressure has a habit of staying low or suddenly falling. Use and keep packets of "electral" powder with you and whenever you feel dizzy drink it
with water. Also get your blood pressure monitored and correct treatment taken.
5. Constant on-and-off mild fever or feverish feeling - This is
known as jeerna jwar in ayurveda, wherein a mild lingering fever constantly
exists in the body. This fever may not reflect on the thermometer but exists in a dormant stage. Immediate treatment for this kind of a problem is required by an ayurvedic doctor.
Apart from these cases, regular weakness and fatigue can be
dealt with easily.
Ayurveda mentions 4 general reasons why there is weakness
and fatigue in the body.
1. Excessive exertion - Over exertion causes weakness and fatigue
and this is true for both the mind as well as the body, hence stress related psychological weakness is also a part of excessive exertion. Try and calm the mind down by using simple meditation techniques. Shirodhara and pranayamas (except for kapalbhati) is extremely useful for this.
2. Less intake of food - A lot of times due to work or due
to an incorrect lifestyle we reduce our intake of food. It could also be that
there might be indigestion causing a nauseating feeling that subsequently
reduces our food intake. How to find out whether it is indigestion or not and if it is, then how to treat it is mentioned in this video. Using these home remedies appetite will automatically increase.
3. Less amount of sleep - Insomnia also causes a lot of
weakness. It is of two types - disturbed sleep and decreased duration of sleep. In the former, the patient sleeps on
time and for the full duration but keeps waking up hence not allowing enough rest to the body and the mind.
The other type is where sleep does not come at all and the patient is lying
awake. Treatment for insomnia is mentioned in this video.
4. Tissue wasting - If none of the factors seem to be true
then this could be a probable factor. If so, please visit an ayurvedic doctor
immediately.
Some
medicines boost the energy levels naturally and I would recommend using the
home remedy given below as a booster for giving and maintaining high energy
levels throughout the day.
Ayurvedic Energy Drink -
This is an all natural easily available energy drink that can be used by all age groups and is extremely safe and effective. It gives not just instant but also long lasting energy.
Acidity is one of the most common yet one of the most
harassing problem faced. The reason I say it is so harassing is that once you
have it, it constantly keeps resurfacing despite all the medication you take
for it. A little change in diet, one late night or just some minor change in
routine triggers acidity and the patient is never at ease. Interestingly
acidity has become incurable with modern medicines these days, very similar to
diabetes. If a strict lifestyle or diet is followed the symptoms don't show and
medication, if started, is taken perpetually. The reason I say this is because
the root cause of acidity is not dealt with at all and treatment prescribed
increases the problem at the root while giving symptomatic relief.
Associated symptoms commonly seen with acidity are
Headache
Hairfall
Sleep deficiency
Red spots on the back and shoulder
Anger and Irritation
Acne
Redness of eyes
Burning urination
Burning of palm of hands and soles of legs
Causes -
Increased intake of sour, spicy and fermented food
Increased intake of water
Intake of stale food
Long gap between meals
Late nights
Increased stress levels
Pathophysiology -
Acidity is originally formed from indigestion. The
indigestion could be because of excessive water intake diluting the gastric
juices or could be because of overeating or eating heavy to digest foods
regularly. It is also seen that this indigestion comes as a result of eating a
lot immediately after fasting.
This indigestion stays in the body in the form of
"aam" or a sticky fermented product stuck to the intestines. It does
not clear even on purgation. Think of it as a chewing gum stuck to the
intestines. The only way to remove it would be to completely digest and
disintegrate it.
This "aam" being acidic in nature increases the
overall acidity levels in the stomach. For simplicity purposes let us call the
acid generated by the human body in order to digest the food "good
acid" and the acid caused due to "aam" as "bad acid".
The good and bad acid increase in overall acidity levels in
the body causing "Acidity". We usually try to treat this by a number of
ways
1. We take something that is alkaline in nature like
"eno" or "digene" etc. This gives us relief as it
neutralizes the acid.
2. We eat sweet, heavy and cold food. A very common example
is cold milk, or sweets.
3. We drink even more water to dilute the acid.
4. We start medication from something like a rantac to a
pan-40 to an omez etc.
The problem with these steps is that none of them help
digest this "aam" but in-fact increases the "aam", forming a
vicious circle. In the first step, the neutralization does not differentiate
between the good acid and the bad acid hence weakening our digestion causing
further indigestion. In the second treatment, the indigestion definitely
increases causing further problems. In the third treatment, the dilution of
acid itself does not allow proper digestion and in the fourth one the medicines
do not allow good acid to be formed hence giving the same result as the 3
above.
Generally once the acidity medication starts, it keeps
increasing in dose and the patient gets hooked onto it and eventually cannot start his/her
day without it.
This is the reason I say that acidity these days has become
an incurable disease.
Treatment -
To treat acidity the patient must suffer from increase in
acidity and related symptoms. For curing acidity we increase the acid levels in
the body especially the good acid levels which in turn digest the long-standing
"aam" in the body. Once this "aam" is digested the formation
of bad acid stops and a permanent solution to acidity is found. Ayurvedic
doctors these days also give medicines to suppress symptoms of acidity but very
few really cure it as it increases the symptoms.
