Ayurveda uses two main modalities, in the therapeutics of a disease, each with its own distinct purpose. Shamana therapy is used to palliate or manage the symptoms of disease, whereas shodhana therapy is used to eliminate the cause of disease. Each type of disease management has its own appropriateness depending on the patient, the time and the nature and stage of illness.

PREPARATORY PROCEDURES

Shamana shikitsa:
Procedures for Alleviating the Symptoms

Shamana, which means "to suppress,' reduces or eliminates symptoms. Shamana treatments make the patient feel better by suppressing the effects of the body's accumulated ama. Shamana does directly deal with the root cause of the illness, and thus can never effect a complete cure.

Shodhana chikitsa:
Procedures for Eradicating Disease

He second means that Ayurveda uses to treat illness is called shodhana, which literally means "to go away." Shodhanc therapy rids the body of ama and mala and restores balance to the doshas.

Panchkarma:
Rejuvenation Therapy

All disease processes point to a crisis of ama toxicity in the body. Panchakarma constitutes the foremost shodhana chikitsa, or purification therapy, because it reverses the disease mechanisms that carry toxic waste products from the digestive tract into tissues of the body.