Palliative and Detoxification in IC

In the energy science of Ayurveda there are basically two ways to deal with clinical problems such as the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstital cystitis, fibromyalgia, chronic prostatitis, vulvodynia, and irritable bowel syndrome)  The first is palliative treatment

The second level of treatment to deal with clinical problems involves balancing procedures which correct the imbalances that produce the tissue disturbance leading to the symptoms in the first place  I’ve covered these methods in detail in previous blogs and will touch briefly on them again  But I think it’s useful for you to understand why and what methods are available in order to get an overview of the energy science methods of treatment

Palliative Methods for IC

These methods can be lumped into a broad category of doing lifestyle behavioral changes such as the use of  nutritional formats according to energy constitution  Many people who I have seen over the years who have mild IC flares on occasion can be helped by this change alone as many IC bladder pain syndrome patients have experienced  Having said that no matter how far along one chooses or needs to go with respect to treatment methods nutritional change is necessary as it becomes foundational to all other therapies  If one is not willing to change one’s nutritional choices it is best to not go farther or one will be wasting time and money

Herbs as I’ve talked about in other blogs are supportive and adjunctive to other therapies and at any point can be beneficial in supporting the process of healing at any level  The common antiinflammatory herbs that I’ve talked about in the past like aloe vera gel, tea(cumen, coriander, fennel or CCF). turmeric used in formula or in cooking are common herbs to reduce the heat  in the system causing IC flares

Marma therapies can be both diagnostic and therapeutic in terms of helping with symptoms during a flare used with essential oils such as sandalwood with castor oil  Acupuncture is most often palliative and is akin to the marma therapy that I’ve discussed in the past

When you pay attention to proper rest and sleep, reducing stress, eating habits(such as no snacking, eating at appropriate times of the day, avoiding ice, stimulating digestion), and exercise, it can be amazing how such simple things can make a big difference in the flare rate, length of flare, and severity of the flare

Relieving Imbalances in the Tissues

As I’ve discussed in the past therapies that deal with the imbalances of qualities in the pelvic nerves that are often associated with most of the symptoms that revolve around the interstitial cystitis syndrome such as IC, vulvodynia, chronic prostatitis

These therapies deal with imbalances in the peripheral tissues(nerves primarily) that have disseminated from the GI tract and are lodged in these tissues  As I hope you can appreciate palliative methods address not aggravating the condition and further

But procedures directed at the causative agency leading to the symptoms are unique and not for the average health consumer to undertake but they do offer patients the opportunity to eliminate the IC bladder pain syndrome completely  These techniques and methods are not for everyone but represent a clear divergence from what is presently available for IC

IC and 7 Ways to Reduce Pain

In the energy science of Ayurveda imbalance of qualities such as hot, cold, heavy, light affect the metabolic fire called agni  When this happens the end result is a toxic morbid substance called ama  This is essence is how disease occurs in the energy model discipline

In the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, vulvodynia, chronic prostatitis, IBS, GERD, and fibromyalgia) the qualities of mobile and hot lead to early symptoms of the disease complex but as progression occurs more qualities become involved and deeper tissues become affected due to the mounting amount of ama

Clogging of Energy Channels

When energy channels become obstructed with ama then there is no free flow of energy in the mindbody  This leads to a buildup of the Vata energy pattern which is freely circulating in the channels(common channels we know from a Western perspective are the GI tract, large vessels like the aorta or vena cava, neural pathways, and the respiratory system)

Vata, when obstructed in the channels, causes pain  In Ayurveda there is no pain without Vata  So in the IC bladder pain syndrome pain is related to clogged channels from ama accumulation and the blockage of the free flow of Vata  Often this is neurologic like pain and follows what I have written about in earlier blogs about the origin of the syndrome

As you can see, keeping the channels open is essential for keeping vatagenic pain in check  It is also important for immunity, and overall health  To keep the channels open, it is important to eat fresh food with spices that help digestion so that ama is not formed  When ama (partially digested food) is formed, its sticky nature blocks the channels and aggravates vata  Also spices in your food, give a general warming effect to the whole body which helps to keep the channels open, and vata flowing

5 Ways to Prevent and Clear Pain

Staying warm  The Vata energy pattern has the qualities of cold, light mobile, dry, rough, subtle, and clear so when we don’t stay warm this can increase the Vata guna of cold and increase our pain  Think about it….if you get cold the mindbody contracts  Don’t let your feet get cold  Don’t eat cold food and drink  You might think ice cream is vata-pacifying because it’s dairy but it’s not  It is actually vata-aggravating  Anything cold you put in your system closes the channels and blocks the flow of vata   That’s why you get a headache if you eat cold things quickly

Transdermal creams can be used for pain control with reasonably good effect  One has to be consistent, persistent, and disciplined in their use but if applied properly they can be effective

Using massage oils which have magnesium in them is valuable as the oil and the magnesium both help pacify Vata

Avoid the sour taste such as lemons Limes(immature lemons) are rich in Vit C and are immunity boosters

Nutrition that causes pain   Large beans, bananas, winter squashes and extra heavy foods are all known in Ayurveda as visthambi, (clogging to the srotas or channels)  Avoid these items in your diet and you will find your channels are more open, and your vatagenic pain is less  Also avoid the nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant) because these toxic plants block the vibrational channels (nadis), which can subsequently cause the physical channels (srotas or channels) to shrink

Avoiding leftover foods or pre-packaged foods is important too  These foods are not easily digested by the body and result in ama right away  This promotes clogging of the channels and lessen the free flow of Vata

Daily schedules  Regular routine is Vata pacifying so daily schedules are irregular and hectic(Vata provoking) there will be a tendency to increase the Vata energy pattern

IC: Lower Abdominal Marma Therapy

Marmani are actually acupuncture points and can be used for therapy in all medical conditions  Like the renowned chakra points in yoga marmani can have profound physiologic impact over time because specific points influence specific organs such as the bladder and nervous system tissue in the pelvis  The effect to these point can be accomplished with oils such as castor oil or herbal creams that have their impact on the marmani

Castor oil is cooling when applied externally on the skin and we have talked about this in previous posts as a means of helping deal with the hot quality in the pelvis causing the symptoms of the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, vulvodynia, chronic prostatitis, IBS, GERD, and fibromylagia)  When using castor with lower abdominal marmas over time this can prove effective in dealing with pelvic pain

Of course in energy science work it’s not just one thing that you do that helps with this chronic pain complex but a multiplicity of therapies(nutrition, day in balance, herbs etc) and the use of marma along with medicinal oils can be very helpful  Castor oil packs have been used for a long time in the symptomatic relief of the lower abdominal pain of IC  It makes sense that castor’s effect would be through the route of marma since the lower abdominal application of the castor would have little to do with its apparent internal effects of pain relief

Therapeutic Application of Tea Tree and Castor

The energy science often uses an essential oil along with an oil like castor which can deliver positive effects to the involved tissues through the influence of marma points  Adding 12 drops of pure tea tree oil to 30cc(1 oz) of castor oil(use a 1 oz dropper bottle)makes a 2% solution that can have therapeutic effects when delivered through marma point of the lower abdomen

The arrows in the accompanying diagram point to specific marmas in the infraumbilical(below the belly button) area  A point midway between the belly button and pubic bone is not as well as a point just above the pubic bone  There are also paired points, two midway on a line between the belly button and the pelvic bone lateral to the pubic bone, and two lateral to the midline pubic bone point

The application of the above oil is done to these specific points, massaging two points at a time in any combination  The points can be massaged for 3minutes and then move onto another pair of points  All totaled should take about 9 minutes  You can also use castor on the rest of the abdomen  Many find application of heat helpful after the castor application

 Medicinal Effects of Tea Tree Oil and Castor

As has been discussed the medicinal effects of castor are well known in the energy science  It’s unique in that it has a physiologic cooling effect when applied externally but when taken internally it has the opposite heating effect producing increased gut motility  Of course this cooling effect can be beneficial for those who have IC which is caused by the hot and mobile qualities

The tea tree is indiginous to Australia and the leaves are rich in melaleuca oil which is composed of several different aromatic terpenes that cause a very penetrating effect of the oil into deep tissues  This then makes it an excellent choice for marma therapy where the penetrating effect of the oil can bring about therapeutic effects to the the organs that are represented on the skin  Tea tree oil is balancing to all 3 energy patterns and therefore can be very helpful in IC particularly the hot quality of Pitta

IC: An Antiinflammatory Drink

The inflammation that occurs with your IC pain as we’ve talked about in the past is from the hot and mobile qualities from an energy science viewpoint

As you know this pain can be excruciating and unrelenting causing undue stress on relationships and plans

And there are things that we have discussed that can help with temporary relief of symptoms  But what would it be like it you lived a life without any bladder symptoms at all  This is the cure of the apparent curable condition of IC

The Hot Quality

As we’ve mentioned before the human energy anatomy Ayurveda says that there are three energy patterns that give us function  The Vata, Pitta, and Kapha physiologic energies gives the body movement, transformation, and stability respectively

Pitta the energy of transformation is the only one of the three energy patterns that has the hot vibrational frequency  This energy of transformation is responsible for your flares  Makes sense doesn’t it?  Hot transforms right?   But too much of this energy produces IC   Burning wood, burning thoughts, burning stomach burning bladder, burning pelvis, burning vagina  Holy smoke!  Burned up relationships!

This is the energy that slso makes us competitive but if more hot enters into the equation it leads to aggressive behaviors that turn people off

Choosing Hot

So when it’s hot in the environment the same hot is aggravated in our own mindbody energy field   And when you eat trigger foods the same thing happens whether we can appreciate it or not  That’s why the food guidelines are so important because sometimes you can’t appreciate what’s happening

The hot from the sun is never as long term provoking as the hot that we ingest   As I’ve discussed in other blogs consumption of the hot quality has a much longer staying power of influence  This is a very important point since the physiology is affected literally for 35 days after a trigger food is chosen to be ingested

What happens when too much hot is in the energy physiology? You guessed it! INFLAMMATION

What To Do  What To Do

Sooo…. here’s a recipe for a delicious cooling herbal cocktail that you may find valuable particularly during flare seasons

2T of aloe vera gel(NOT the juice)

2oz of pomegranite juice

2oz of water

Chug a lug! Hmmmm delissios

Here’s to cooling off

IC and Pain Management: Role of Meditation

Probably one of the most challenging clinical conditions in medicine are those where physical pain plays a role in the chronic disesase  Although there is always a psychological or emotional component to this pain, it is the physical pain that becomes so daunting  This is the case in the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, vulvodynia, chronic prostatitis, IBS, GERD, and fibromyalgia) and what makes it so challenging for people afflicted  But what makes it so challenging?  Is it really the pain?  Or is it something else?

Anybody confronted with chronic pain will attest to the fact that it’s the continuous physical discomfort that doesn’t go away that leads to the challenge  But what if the person is given things to do to help with the pain but won’t do them because they make the assumption that it won’t work  This becomes a problem

Case Study

Let’s talk about a middle aged woman with high Vata energy who has a 4 year history of sharp burning electrical pelvic symptoms that move up toward her head  But over the last 6 months these pelvic symptoms progressed to severe bladder symptoms with burning pain during and after urination to the point of incapacitation so she cannot work or do normal daily activities  She’s given specific therapies that will indeed help her with the pain but is unable to do even a small part of them because she believes that they are making her symptoms worse  In the end her mind is so strung out that she becomes confused with loss of ability to maintain direction in helping herself with healing

I know there will be some who would argue that this is just part of the problem and that is indeed true  But what we have here is a mind that is interfering with the person getting better by preventing her from even using the therapies to begin with  Physical pain freaks the mind out  It produces enormous unsettling so that there is confusion, disarray, loss of ability to maintain direction, and lack of faith in any process

Role of Meditation

Obviously meditation does not eliminate pain but it has one very important attribute  It settles the mind so that there is a potential for faith to peek its head in the door and nuture some calmness to the freaked out mind

We see a lot of people in the clinic with chronic disease who have perhaps underlying psychological or emotional pain but not obvious physical pain and so these people can also benefit from meditation

But it’s one thing to deal with helping people with chronic disease but quite another to try to help those with chronic disease who have chronic physical pain

Meditation does not eliminate the pain  It helps settle the mind so that it is not so anxious and is able to accept suggested therapies without freaking out  There are times when pain is so commanding of our attention that a trial of a particular approach freaks us out Everything is uncertain and we just want the pain to go away  This is specifically a very bad place for people with chronic disease