Ayurveda - Hole in the eardrum
(Account by the patient's mother)
(Account by the patient's mother)
Agony caused by pain and discharge :
Our 11-year-old daughter Srushti told us suddenly one morning in August 2007 that she couldn’t sleep the previous night because of ear pain. We were a little surprised as this was the first time she had ever complained of ear pain. Upon checking, she did not seem to have a visible cold either. She got ready for school but she did seem
a little unwell, so she stayed back at home and thank God she did. By evening she had developed severe ear pain and was feverish too. I had tried a home remedy of boiling some garlic in sesame oil and put a few drops. No help. All of a sudden at 6.45pm she called and cringed in severe ear pain and then I noticed that there was
some watery discharge from the ear. She had also developed high fever. I put some cotton in the ear but in a few minutes, there was some blood from the ear. The cotton was drenched with blood. Well, needless to say, as a mother and as a person outside the medical profession, I panicked and immediately rushed her to the nearest hospital where there was a reputed E.N.T specialist.
Allopathic Diagnosis:
The Specialist examined her even as she was in pain and told us to our dismay that she had ruptured her eardrum and that there was a small hole in the ear! She said it was due to severe congestion of phlegm in the throat region. The phlegm had forced itself out through the eardrum!
The doctor wrote a few painkillers and antibiotics which she said would help prevent infection. She also wrote a steroid, which would help to quickly close the hole in the eardrum. She said because the hole would be closed suddenly the phlegm would still
put a lot of pressure without a way out and cause some temporary hearing loss. Well, we came out armed with a prescription for temporary hearing loss and no remedy for the root cause.
Parents’ Dilemma :
Being believers of Ayurveda and a holistic outlook to life, we could in no way buy those medicines and hence spoke to an Ayurvedic physician in our city (Pune). Though he claimed to be a purist Ayurvedic Vaidya in our earlier interactions with him, he told us that since there was pus and blood and fever, it is better that she
take antibiotics! In the meanwhile, our daughter was writhing in severe ear pain and bleeding from the ear. One look at her almost tempted us to buy those steroids, who cares what the effects were later?
Belief Worked :
But thank the Lord, we did not, as we still had the contact of Dr.Girija at Sanjeevani in Chennai. Srushti was extremely fortunate to be under the care of Sanjeevani since her birth and so it was possible to consult Dr.Girija even though we had moved out of Chennai to Pune. Still, there were apprehensions galore. We would have to disturb her again at an odd hour (we’d lost count of how many times we did it earlier), trouble her by demanding a diagnosis and treatment on phone (where was Chennai in relation to Pune!). But our faith in her and the system led us to pick up the telephone.
Calm and composed as usual, Dr.Girija assured us not to panic and gave her prescription of internal medicines and external oil for the treatment, which we couldbuy from the local Ayurvedic medical shops. She had to take Sudarshanam tablet and Guggulu tikta Ghritam along with Tribhuvana Kirti rasa initially thrice day. After
that she continued to take Sudarshanam tablet and Guggulu tikta ghritam twice a day. Slowly but steadily, the healing began. We had to clean the ear, pour around ½ spoonof warm Vachalasoonadi thailam and plug the ear with cotton. Initially her ear had to be dressed almost every 15 minutes, as the cotton would get drenched with pus and blood. It slowly changed to dressing her ear 4 times a day and then to twice a day till she no longer needed any more dressing.
Srushti had to no doubt, go through a difficult time because the problem was such, but the beauty of the treatment lay in its approach and entirety. The fever subsided gradually over two days. The phlegm reduced gradually and the pus and bleeding from the ear also reduced steadily. Dr. Girija monitored her almost every day through telephonic conversation. There was no pain-killers/ antibiotics or steroids. When we showed her to the E.N.T specialist a week later the pus and blood from the ear had reduced considerably but we were told that the hole would take 2 to 3 weeks
to close on its own. When we showed Srushti to the same doctor after 10 days, well…everything was clear. No infection, no hole in the ear, no suction instruments to clear up dried mucus in the ear (not present) and NO TEMPORARY HEARING LOSS either! What the poor doc didn’t know is the secret behind. All that medicated oil and internal tablets prescribed by Dr. Girija, which helped clear out the pus without drying it up, while helping to close the hole in the eardrum!
Conclusion :
It is only as well that we did not mention the Ayurvedic medicines to that reputed E.N.T Specialist who could not think out of the box. Even till the end she maintained that cold or ear infections were caused only by “viruses” and so according to her understanding of modern medicine, Winter or wind are elements of nature which
exist independently, without relation to human life and she actually reprimanded our daughter for protecting her ears with a scarf even during treatment. As we walked out of her clinic I thought silently that it is rightly said, do not agitate the ignorant! And silently did I thank Sanjeevani and Ayurveda!
The doctor wrote a few painkillers and antibiotics which she said would help prevent infection. She also wrote a steroid, which would help to quickly close the hole in the eardrum. She said because the hole would be closed suddenly the phlegm would still
put a lot of pressure without a way out and cause some temporary hearing loss. Well, we came out armed with a prescription for temporary hearing loss and no remedy for the root cause.
Parents’ Dilemma :
Being believers of Ayurveda and a holistic outlook to life, we could in no way buy those medicines and hence spoke to an Ayurvedic physician in our city (Pune). Though he claimed to be a purist Ayurvedic Vaidya in our earlier interactions with him, he told us that since there was pus and blood and fever, it is better that she
take antibiotics! In the meanwhile, our daughter was writhing in severe ear pain and bleeding from the ear. One look at her almost tempted us to buy those steroids, who cares what the effects were later?
Belief Worked :
But thank the Lord, we did not, as we still had the contact of Dr.Girija at Sanjeevani in Chennai. Srushti was extremely fortunate to be under the care of Sanjeevani since her birth and so it was possible to consult Dr.Girija even though we had moved out of Chennai to Pune. Still, there were apprehensions galore. We would have to disturb her again at an odd hour (we’d lost count of how many times we did it earlier), trouble her by demanding a diagnosis and treatment on phone (where was Chennai in relation to Pune!). But our faith in her and the system led us to pick up the telephone.
Calm and composed as usual, Dr.Girija assured us not to panic and gave her prescription of internal medicines and external oil for the treatment, which we couldbuy from the local Ayurvedic medical shops. She had to take Sudarshanam tablet and Guggulu tikta Ghritam along with Tribhuvana Kirti rasa initially thrice day. After
that she continued to take Sudarshanam tablet and Guggulu tikta ghritam twice a day. Slowly but steadily, the healing began. We had to clean the ear, pour around ½ spoonof warm Vachalasoonadi thailam and plug the ear with cotton. Initially her ear had to be dressed almost every 15 minutes, as the cotton would get drenched with pus and blood. It slowly changed to dressing her ear 4 times a day and then to twice a day till she no longer needed any more dressing.
Srushti had to no doubt, go through a difficult time because the problem was such, but the beauty of the treatment lay in its approach and entirety. The fever subsided gradually over two days. The phlegm reduced gradually and the pus and bleeding from the ear also reduced steadily. Dr. Girija monitored her almost every day through telephonic conversation. There was no pain-killers/ antibiotics or steroids. When we showed her to the E.N.T specialist a week later the pus and blood from the ear had reduced considerably but we were told that the hole would take 2 to 3 weeks
to close on its own. When we showed Srushti to the same doctor after 10 days, well…everything was clear. No infection, no hole in the ear, no suction instruments to clear up dried mucus in the ear (not present) and NO TEMPORARY HEARING LOSS either! What the poor doc didn’t know is the secret behind. All that medicated oil and internal tablets prescribed by Dr. Girija, which helped clear out the pus without drying it up, while helping to close the hole in the eardrum!
Conclusion :
It is only as well that we did not mention the Ayurvedic medicines to that reputed E.N.T Specialist who could not think out of the box. Even till the end she maintained that cold or ear infections were caused only by “viruses” and so according to her understanding of modern medicine, Winter or wind are elements of nature which
exist independently, without relation to human life and she actually reprimanded our daughter for protecting her ears with a scarf even during treatment. As we walked out of her clinic I thought silently that it is rightly said, do not agitate the ignorant! And silently did I thank Sanjeevani and Ayurveda!
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