Pilonidal Sinus - How Ayurveda Can Help Treat It?

Pilonidal refers to a nest of hair. A pilonidal sinus or PNS is an abscess or a small cyst that is often witnessed at the top left-hand corner of the buttocks. It is a tube-like structure that possesses a tuft of hair. PNS consists of debris, hair, and dirt resulting from infection leading to severe pain. In case PNS becomes infected, it can ooze blood and pus along with a foul smell. This condition is often witnessed in people who are required to sit for a very long time at one go. A truck driver for instance often suffers from this condition.

What are the symptoms?
There are no visible symptoms during the initial phase of this condition. There could be a small depression in the skin that can develop into a cyst. Some of the notable signs of this disease include pain while sitting, sore skin, reddening of the area, a cyst swelling to a considerable extent, formation of multiple cysts. At times, mild fever can also be present along with the other symptoms.

What are the possible causes of pilonidal sinus?
Although the exact cause of PNS is not known, researchers believe that it happens due to a combination of friction of clothes, changing hormones, a growth of hair inside the skin etc. Apart from this, some of the other reasons include over sweating, hair twisting inside the skin, lack of hygiene in the sacral region, improper sitting posture etc.

How Ayurveda can treat PNS?
Ayurveda treats pilonidal sinus with the help of Kshra sutra treatment. This treatment is believed to be the best replacement to modern medicine and can be an alternative to the complex surgeries and pain. Here is how the treatment proceeds:

1. The patient is kept in a prone position
2. With proper anaesthesia and an aseptic measure in place, the track is identified with a probe
3. The track is then cleaned and a herbal medicated thread (Ayurveda calls this Kshara sutra) is placed and temporarily fixed onto that place
4. Turmeric is a key ingredient of this herbal mixture. It has been scientifically proved that turmeric has tremendous healing power.
5. The thread produces a hygroscopic action due to the presence of proteolytic enzymes, this causes the debris to come out of the cyst
6. Kshara Sutra has the capability to cut through the cyst and simultaneously heal it as well
7. It is necessary to change the Kshara Sutra every week to speed up the healing process

With every visit, the length of the track and the Kshara Sutra that was inserted keeps decreasing. Finally, the track gets completely cut through with the impact of the sutra and the disease gets cured from within by shedding debris.

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