Doctor, I am in constant pain due to my sore throat. I experience difficulty even while drinking water and talking. I have used salt water for gargling in the morning even that has not helped my condition. Any easy to follow, and quick relief remedy is what I am seeking.

Rasika Dave, Bangalore

If your sore throat is there for such a long duration, it has to be treated by a physician and also get yourself a COVID-19 Test done.  After the test shows negative, please try for one week gargling with madhuyastyadi thailam. Stop drinking anything which is not boiled and warm. No ice cream, no fruits. Apply with the help of a cotton swab Triphala choornam mixed with honey all over the inflamed throat area. This need not be spitted out otherwise it can go inside. Do not take a head bath until the sore throat disappears.

I am a 39-year-old asthmatic patient, and during winters my condition gets even worse. I have to depend on inhalers during the night, and in the whole process, I have been gaining a lot of weight. I need a solution both for my weight loss as well as asthma, what do I do?

Shama Das, Bangalore

Asthma is a chronic condition, which can create more difficulties in winter. Here the diet is very important. Do not take any milk products in any form other than fresh ghee. Do not take fish and red meats. Avoid any fermented food like baked items. No sweets or deep-fried items. You should take lots of fresh vegetables(cooked), and greens. Take other food as usual. Stop taking rice in the evening. Apply coconut oil processed with a spoon of camphor and massage chest for 30mins and give a hot wet fomentation. Since you are in Bangalore, visit RISA. Some purification treatment will be extremely helpful.

My son aged 4 years and 7 months eats very less. He has no interest to food, also he vomits quite often. I have tried so many medications, but they been of no use. He often develops cold and is very thin, but active. Earlier, doctors predicted him as mild asthmatic. I am really worried about his growth and immunity. Kindly give us healing reply to improve his overall wellbeing. Since we are vegetarians we could not give him fish and egg as suggested by few physicians.  

Meenakshi Shankar via email

I understand your feelings. But, this is very common in children of this age. Your son must be having worm infestations. With this, the appetite also goes down, and the child becomes lethargic. Do not worry! Please give him every day before breakfast and dinner 1 teaspoon of Astachoornam mixed with honey. Then after lunch and dinner, give him 1 tablespoon of Mustaristam. This has to be followed for one month.

Do not give him chocolate, icecream or any other sweets during this period. After one month stop these medicines and give Aravindasavam 1 tablespoon after food three times a day for 3 months. Give him weekly twice or thrice, whole body oil massage with Lakshadi thailam.Give him regularly 2 tablespoons of coconut milk cooked with pepper and salt. Give him daily ghee and pappad and incude fresh fruits in his diet. Please try this and let me know.

My husband aged 62 has been diagnosed as Parkinsons patient. Kindly guide us for some Ayurvedic treatment to avoid further suffering. At present he is able to manage his own work, (in slow motion). While walking, he limps a little 

Padma kanani, Bangalore

Parkinson’s is a predominantly a vaata disease. We correlate this with kampavaata. This needs continuous treatment for a long time including Panchakarma. In the initial stage, the oil application with vaata alleviating medicine will be useful. Since you are in Bangalore, I would advise you to visit Ramaiah Indic Speciality Ayurveda Hospital, which will be able to help you. Please contact 08022183456, for more details 

My daughter is 3 years old. She is taking homeopathic medicines right now. Will it be all right to give her Kumari Asava no 3 for proper digestion? Actually her mouth smells bad regularly even after taking care of brushing regularly. So our doctor said that she is having some problems with food digestion. She is extremely thin, though a really active child. 

Preethi Maulay via email

Give her Pippaliasavam along with Kumariasavam, 1 teaspoon each, and give a gap of 30 minutes between Homeo medicines and ayurvedic medicines.

This is regarding my father, who is 83 and suffering from an aortic aneurism in his stomach. He lives in the UK and is waiting to hear from his doctors whether they will offer him an operation. He will then have to choose whether or not to go ahead with it. Apparently he has had the aneurism for two years and it is getting progressively worse. He has pains in his stomach which can be dulled by paracetamol but which sometimes are very very bad. Could very kindly advise me on what diet he should have or what other steps he could take to ease the pain.         

Simon Hamilton, United Kindom (UK)

Please let me know whether the AA of the stomach of your father is less than 2mms, and when it was diagnosed? What is the opinion of your surgeon? If it is larger than 5.5mms and the growth rate is 0.5mms per year and the growth, then it needs surgical intervention. If it is not the case, then I shall suggest you take one ayurvedic preparation by the name Gugguly Tiktakam gritham, 1 teaspoon in the morning and 1teaspoon at night, and reduce all fatty items and deep-fried food from his diet. Make sure that his blood pressure is under control. Since he is 83 years old surgery may not be a good idea at all, unless it is acute.

DISCLAIMER

Note: The above information is specific to respective individuals. Be sure to ask your healthcare provider for any specific medications you need.  Self-medication is not advisable as it can trigger other medical problems, you need to visit your doctor when you’re sick.