The main emphasize of Ayurveda is on preventative and healing therapies along with the various methods of purification and rejuvenation. The treatment in Ayurveda consists of four basic forms- drug therapy, panchakarma, dietary routine and regulation of lifestyle. It works in two fundamental ways of cure and prevention. The preventive aspect includes personal hygiene that further consists of daily routine, seasonal corrections and appropriate behaviour. The curative aspect consists of internal medicine that includes internal purification through panchakarma, external medicine as massage, use of pastes and powders and lastly the surgical treatment.

According to Ayurveda a balanced state of body, mind and consciousness is important to remain healthy. To achieve this balance Ayurveda recommends the panchakarma therapy. Panchakarma is a Sanskrit word where pancha means five and karma refers to the therapeutic measures. Thus, panchakarma means five types of therapeutic measures. The panchakarma therapy of Ayurveda comprises of five basic types of advanced treatment to eliminate toxic matter from the body. It is part of a group of therapies belonging to a class of cleansing procedures known as shodan.

In the concept of Ayurveda all living and non-living things are composed of panchamahabhootas. These panchamahabhootas are the foundation stone of the entire world. These five elements in different combinations form the three doshas- vata, pitta and kapha.

Ayurveda suggests panchakarma at the seasonal changes to keep the metabolism strong and keep away toxins from getting accumulated in the body and mind. The panchakarma treatment cleanses the body, improves the digestion and the metabolic processes of the body. It is considered the most effective treatment in Ayurveda that makes an individual receptive to the various curative process of Ayurveda by removing the accumulated waste in the body and mind.

The panchakarma therapy includes three main parts.

For every action it’s necessary to prepare the body first. In order to start the process of purification there is a need to prepare the body to encourage the body to allow the toxins to move from the body. It involves three steps- paachan, snehan and swedan. The pradhan karma is the main method and it includes vaman, virechan, basti, and nasya and rakta mokshan. The pashchat karma is the post therapeutic measures that include sansarjan karma, dhuman pana and some other rules to follow the specific activities.

Therefore, the deep cleansing process of panchakarma enables the body to release excess dosha and toxins from the body and mind. The therapy of panchakarma basically denotes detoxification or elimination of toxins from the body.