Scleroderma – Ayurveda Management

Abstract

Skin diseases are commonly observed day by day due to altered life style, improper hygiene, mental stress, over eating and nutrition deficiency. All the skin diseases in Ayurveda have been discussed under the broad heading of Kushtha, which are further divided into Mahakushtha and Kshudra Kushtha. Kapala kushtha is a type of Mahakushtha with symptoms like blackish red skin patches, which resembles pot sherds, dry, rough, thin, wide, of uneven edges with severe pain and less itching. It can be compared to scleroderma; the first specific clinical symptoms to suggest a diagnosis of scleroderma is skin thickening. Later the skin becomes hard, shiny, leathery and hardens like a stone. This article highlights a case study of Kapala Kushtha treated with the Ayurvedic principles in particular Shodhana Chikitsa; the therapy which expels out the morbid Doshas from the body. Kushtha is difficult to cure, so it is called ‘Dushchikitsya’ but by the application of Shodhana therapy, cure of the diseases becomes easier due to removal of the root cause. Here is a case study of 67yrs/female having signs and symptoms of Kapala kushtha. The patient was admitted and managed with Shodhana Chikitsa (purification) which included Raktashodhak Ksheer Basti (medicated enema) and Virechan (purgation) followed by Shaman Chikitsa (pacification) and the results with rationality have been depicted in this article.