Kidney stones are of various types and unless they are big enough for surgery, doctors advise to go for a flushing out technique. For me and my family I will never go under a knife unless it’s a life threatening issue. Doctors all over the globe are now switching to Ayurvedic treatment for Kidney stones, since it gives a double advantage of breaking the stones into finer bits before flushing them out. In this article we will discuss what options you have and what extra care you can give to your kidneys.
Information on Internet regarding Ayurvedic Treatment for Kidney Stones
When I surfed the internet for Ayurvedic treatment for Kidney stones, the first few search results were all very basic stuff without serious information (at least from a specialist viewpoint). One person was selling some “magical powder’’ with unknown herbs, the second person was telling you to have kidney beans and the third one had given some pathetic home remedies which can’t be termed as treatments! Why were they doing this? There is so much knowledge in Ayurveda, but apart from those herbs which require medical supervision, one can always share some practical measures which are really effective.
When should I take Ayurvedic treatment for Kidney Stones?
It’s very simple. You can always go for natural, herbal or ayurvedic treatment once it’s proven through ultrasonography that the stones don’t require a surgery. Here, a big difference in Indian and western understanding is that Indians consider lithotripsy (breaking stones by shock waves) and lithotomy (by putting a hollow tube) as surgery while in west only opening of body by a cut is considered surgery. Apart from their chemical complexities, kidney stones also differ in their sizes, shapes, location and numbers. In my personal opinion, any stone which is not larger than 5mm in diameter can be targeted by Ayurveda. This is because the diameter of ureter (pipe connecting kidney and bladder) is around 3-5 mm and I don’t want a stone to get stuck there. The advantage here is that the ayurveda medicines have shown marked kidney protective, hepatoprotective and antioxidant properties. This means they protect your kidneys while hammering the stones in small pieces. In my practice I have seen stones as big as 10-12mm break and pass away through urine with the help of good ayurvedic medicines.
So, how do I do it?
Ayurvedic treatment for kidney stones is basically based on its various stages.
- The First stage characterized by excruciating pain pains at back in kidney region and pain in abdomen requires treatment of the air element or Vatahar chikitsa. Here the drugs of choice are Gokhru, Varuna, Kulthi and safed musli. Apart from the last herb, rest three can be easily grown in a terrace garden or even in a tub. While the thorny seeds of gokhru are crushed and used, the leaves of varun and fine powder of kulathi can be added to it to be churned in mixer to get a homogenous paste. This should be taken twice a day with warm Usheerasava for best results.
- Second stage is identified when the person starts having burning sensation while urinating. Basically to tackle the fire element or Pittahara chikitsa. The best herbs in this category are punarnava, pashan behda, makhana and Kaviraj Nagendranath Sen mentions in one of his books (100 years ago), that it’s sorry to see those herbs which were easily available in backyard now sold in the vegetable markets. Today, these herbs are not available in markets even. Only specialized pharmacies produce these herbs in their purest form. The combination of these herbs can be taken with Chandanasava as a carrier liquid.
- Third stage I hope you don’t reach this stage. Primarily it is characterized by Obstructed urination and requires treatment for earth and water elements i.e., Kaphahara chikitsa. I have seen patients directly showing the symptoms of the third stage without showing any signs of the first two. Here the stone is too large to move on its own or is trapped in a difficult place. Not only it is blocking the flow of urine but is probably causing a urinary tract infection along with damaging kidney tissues. I would seriously recommend you to visit your physician and take appropriate action. At third stage some herbo mineral combinations like Chandraprabha vati, Kalyanak kshar, Jahar mohra,Godanti bhasma,Punarnavadi guggulu etc are used by expert physicians.
Can I use Yoga?
Yoga is trending everywhere. Though formally it doesn’t come under Ayurvedic treatment for kidney stones, but definitely it asserts positive result on curing stones and stopping its reoccurrence. Now I have an attorney friend who got this, and was taking rounds of the USG specialist. What she did was to regularly focus on the positive energy while inhalation. While she did not do any methodical yoga or pranayama, but the procedure she followed was very similar to Internal Yoga. She used to mentally divert that positive, white, fresh energy of inhalation towards the imaginary stones of kidneys. And she exhaled out (mentally) the toxins released. Along with this she took the ayurvedic medicines for the second stage. After three weeks, her stones were gone in the USG reports.
Are there any risks?
If you don’t check about the progress of the issue, it’s surely risky. I have seen many cases where patients start taking a single ayurveda medicine and forget every other restriction. It won’t work like that. You may require even panchakarma, massage and herbal poultice depending upon the condition. I myself prefer giving jet steam and Kati basti to patients when the stone is not getting anywhere. Basically it should stop becoming big – as seen in USG within 2 weeks of treatment. If you have a 5 mm stone not responding to the treatment, then definitely it’s risky. Sometime the pathology behind is different, or the patient is not following ayurveda specific diet and lifestyle (which is basically simple living and eating).I would suggest going for a USG regularly to check the progress of the disease to eliminate any risk. Ayurvedic treatment for kidney stones is definitely the best choice if the case has not progressed to a very high level of complexity.