It
is one of the eight specialized branches of Ayurveda
and the most important among them. It deals with matters relating
to general Medicine. It deals with causes, condition, symptoms,
progress of the disease, cure of ailments affecting the body
and it also deals with diagnosis and prognosis as well as the
therapeutics and dietetics. 'Kaya' means 'whole body',
so literally it means diseases affecting the body in general,
but technically it represents 'Agni' or the pitta that carries
out the changes including metabolic ones in our body. The derangement
of this tenet 'Agni' is the root cause of disease.
So treatment in general means correction of Agni, and so Kayachikitsa
is nothing but the correction of Agni or keeping the
function of Agni in optimum. The school of Kayachikitsa
or School of Medicine led by Punarvasu Atreya is known
as Atreya Sampradaya. Charaka states with emphasis
that success in treatment depends not only on the efforts of
the physician, but on the optimum qualities of the Physician,
Drug, Nursing Care and Patient. These are the quadruple (four-fold)
aspects of chikitsa - "Bhisak Dravyanyupasthata
Rogi Pada Catustayam".
The cells in every living being undergo modification during
growth. The rate of this degeneration increases in old age.
Rasayana Chikitsa, also known as rejuvenation therapy,
reduces the rate of degradation and thereby rejuvenates the
body.
As a person gets older, the cells in his body degenerate more
rapidly, resulting in several disorders and ageing difficulties.
Ayurveda has an effective remedy for this problem in
the form of Rasayana Chikitsa. The body is massaged with medicated
herbal oil or herbal cream. Sirodhara and medicated
steam baths are also done along with intake of rejuvenated Ayurvedic
medicines. This lasts for 90 minutes to 2 hours a day for 7
to 14 days.
Salya
Chikitsa (General
surgery)
Bala Chikitsa (Pediatrics)
Visha Chikitsa( Toxicology)
Graha Chikitsa( Psychiatry)
Rasayana Chikitsa( Rejuvenation
therapy)
Salakya Chikitsa (ENT
and eye diseases)
Vajeekarana Chikitsa(Aphrodisiac
therapy)