Fever – Ayurvedic management

Ayurveda, a holistic medical system, emphasizes that fever is due to toxicity in the rasa dhatu (basic vital tissue of the body) and controls fever by: Fasting (langana), Sweating (swedana), Waiting/Patience (kala ), Light diet (yavagu), Bitter drugs (tikta bheshajam) and Detoxification (ama pachana).

• Fasting – Strengthens the digestive system and eliminates ama which in turn cleanses the channels of the body. Strong people can fast while weak people can go on a light diet. A lot of liquid diet should be taken like vegetable soups or just hot ginger water which alleviates aggravated dosha and increases appetite.
• Sweating: One can drink a simple spicy tea to induce sweating or cover oneself with a blanket to sweat as this process removes toxins, raises the body temperature which kills the virus and normalizes the body temperature.
• Light diet: After the body reaches normal temperature, you should eat three meals of a well-balanced/light diet of fresh fruits and raw/lightly cooked vegetables according to your age.
• Bitter Ayurvedic Drugs: Burns ama, increases white blood cell count, which helps the body fight infection. Commonly used medicines are Dasamoola kaduthryam qwath, Amruthothram qwath, Indukantham qwath, Dhanwantharam qwath, Amrutharishta, Sudarsanasava, Dasmoolarishta, Vettumaran tablet, gorochanadi tablet, gopichandanadi tablet, sooryprabha tablet, sirasooladi vajra rasam, laxmi vilas rasam, ananda bha iravaras, etc.
• After the fever, the patient is recommended to undergo a Detoxification treatment (mild purgative regimen – Panchakarma) as it expels the remaining ama and strengthens the digestive system. You are then put on a preventative regimen that will reduce the chances of a recurrence of the fever,

Therefore, Ayurveda management of fever is done by restoring agni (fire) in the body and improving proper metabolism. He also suggests that yogasanas like suryasana and matsyasana be practiced to pacify aggravated pitta dosha which is the root cause of fever and meditation helps in treating fever with a balanced and clear mind.