Kochi - The Ayuverdic Hospital - A detox that killed my bowels

... continued from last post

by Peter

After some rest, my mom and I went out to see the Synagogue, the Vasco de Gama Church and the old V.O.C. (Dutch East India Company) building, then we spent the rest of the night at the hotel before leaving for my friend Sheelas' recommended Ayuverdic Hospital. I wanted the real experiance, not some Ayuverdic Spa that westerners normally go to. We drove about 15km south after some morning yoga and the best breakfast of the trip to a large three story complex call MATT India Medical Centre. The people were very nice and the doctor said she could get my moms bowels to move, plus we were prescribed daily yoga and twice daily massages. My mother was even going to get a bonus of clay therapy. I was excited.

Ayuverdic Massage

Ayurvedic medicine is an ancient system of health care that is native to the Indian subcontinent. The word "Ayurveda" is a tatpurusha compound of the word āyus meaning "life" or "life principle", and the word veda, which refers to a system of "knowledge". Thus "Ayurveda" roughly translates as the "knowledge of life". According to Charaka, "life" itself is defined as the "combination of the body, sense organs, mind and soul, the factor responsible for preventing decay and death, which sustains the body over time, and guides the processes of rebirth". According to this perspective, Ayurveda is concerned with measures to protect "ayus", which includes healthy living along with therapeutic measures that relate to physical, mental, social and spiritual harmony.

Pizhichil
In this treatment, lukewarm herbal oils are applied all over the body by two to four trained masseurs in a special rhythmic way for about 45 to 60 minutes per day.

Sirovashi
Certain lukewarm herbal oils are poured onto the forehead for 15 to 60 minutes per day


So now to actually explain what getting these treatments our like. (on a side note, my mother got different treatment.) The Sirovashi was very relaxing but the head and face massage that followed was incredibly painful and when I said it hurt they just kept going and said it was good pain. By the third day, I had headaches. In regards to the Pizhichil, you are laid BUTT-ASS naked on a hard wooden board without any padding which for a westerner is not good for my joints. After the first massage, my elbows, wrists, and knee joints were red and raw from being pushed back and forth on the massage table for an hour. However, the muscle knots in my neck and shoulders did improve even if my joints ached. On the third day, my mother was finally given a bottle of "castor oil" which did the trick and she had a bowel movement. I was jealous and boy did I get what I deserved.

The next day, after Yoga I was given the pre-castor oil tonic my mother was given and two bottles of warm pink water. After downing the tonic and 1/2 of one of the pink water bottles, my bowels exploded. My entire insides were released. I could finally understand what it must be like to get Lactulose or a prep for a Colonoscopy; however, this was only the start. After, everything solid came out of hole #2, all my stomach contents came out the other side and I was making oral gastric offerings to the porcelain gods. For the next 32 hours, I continued to expunge any and all substance from both orifices of my body. The doctor gave me more tonics, coconut juice, tea, and nothing worked. I couldn't hold anything down and I was starting to get really dehyrated and starting having mild hallucinations. I told my mom at one point after spending 5 or 6 hours on the floor next to the toilet, I would need an IV. Fortunately, my mother said, " Don't you have some acupuncture treatment you can give yourself. " Thankfully, I did CV-12(Middle heater, stomach Mu point), ST -25 (anti-nausea), CV-7 (lower heater, i.e small and large intestine) and Cv-5( adrengic mu point) later I was able to take sleep for 5-6 hours without needing to go to the bathroom. The next morning we were picked up by Joshy and I was really happy to go. It took me 3 days after that before I stopped the nausea and the constipation; although, I didn't try any more acupuncture which probably would have helped me heal earlier.