Paati Vaithiyam : Swellings

Remedy#1 * Cut gin­ger into pieces and mash it using pes­tle and mor­tar to extract the juice. * Take the extract­ed gin­ger juice in a pan and heat on medi­um flame. * Apply on swelling. It relieves pain and reduces swelling.

Remedy#2 * Mash gar­lic using pes­tle and mor­tar and mix in gin­ger extract to make a paste. * Apply this paste to the swelling.

Gar­lic in Ayurve­da

Gar­lic is an ancient spice used in Ayurve­da. It has very pow­er­ful med­i­c­i­nal prop­er­ties. It is used in treat­ing skin dis­eases and dis­or­ders of Vata Dosha imbal­ance such as con­sti­pa­tion and bloat­ing. Exter­nal appli­ca­tion of gar­lic paste improves blood cir­cu­la­tion and relieves pain and inflam­ma­tion. How­ev­er, gar­lic is a tama­sic food. While it can be a pow­er­ful med­i­cine if used prop­er­ly, it can cause much dam­age to us if we add it to our every­day cook­ing and con­sume it. Espe­cial­ly those who are pur­su­ing spir­i­tu­al sad­hana and Yoga should exclude onions and gar­lic from their diet.

How to grow gar­lic Gar­lic is best grown in fer­tile soil, rich in organ­ic mat­ter. It should be well-drained and capa­ble of hold­ing mois­ture dur­ing the grow­ing peri­od. Gar­lic can be plant­ed in pots or direct­ly on the ground.

* Full matured and well-devel­oped bulbs of medi­um to large cloves should be select­ed as plant­i­ng mate­ri­als.

* The plant­i­ng mate­ri­als are pre­pared by sep­a­rat­ing the cloves from one anoth­er. The cloves from the out­er parts of the bulb are the best plant­i­ng mate­r­i­al.

* Use a dib­ble (a point­ed stick) to insert two-thirds of the length of the clove ver­ti­cal­ly into the soil.

* Gar­lic can be har­vest­ed in about 4 and a half months time, when you see the leaves turn­ing yel­low­ish or brown­ish, and start show­ing signs of dry­ing up.

Gin­ger in Ayurve­da

Gin­ger is used in Ayurve­da to treat indi­ges­tion, asth­ma and nau­sea. It is of hot poten­cy (ush­na veerya) and bal­ances vata and kapha.

How to grow gin­ger

Gin­ger is a trop­i­cal plant which grows in warm and humid cli­mate and rich, moist soil. (water-log­ging should be avoid­ed and the soil should drain). Organ­ic com­post must be added to fer­tilise the soil, if is poor. The ratio is 1:1:2 — com­post : sand: red soil. The com­post sup­plies nutri­tion and helps in water reten­tion, and the sand makes sure the mix drains freely. * Select fresh, plump rhi­zomes with well-devel­oped “eyes” or growth buds. * Select a spot where the plant gets plen­ty of light but no direct sun­light, and where it is pro­tect­ed from the wind. * Cut the gin­ger rhi­zome into lit­tle pieces with 2 grow­ing buds each. Plant it 5–10 cm deep, with the grow­ing buds fac­ing up. * Gin­ger only grows to about 2–3 feet in height. * Gin­ger needs lots of mois­ture while active­ly grow­ing. The soil should nev­er dry out. * Har­vest gin­ger when the leaves fall. It takes about 8–10 months to be ready for har­vest.