Traditional medicinal knowledge about common herbs used in treatment of Pyorrhea in Chhattisgarh, India

Research Note - Pankaj Oudhia
© 2001,2002,2003 Pankaj Oudhia - All Rights Reserved

The traditional healers of Semal (Bombax ceiba) rich areas of Chhattisgarh suggest the use of Semal Gond (Gum) externally in treatment of Pyorrhea. The patients are advised to use powdered Gond as toothpowder at least once in a day. It is considered as one of the promising treatments for Pyorrhea. In general, the traditional healers of Chhattisgarh believe that Pyorrhea is a result of poor body resistance and blood impurity. This is the reason they give emphasis on blood purification and making the body healthy. In case of acute trouble, they use specific herbs or herbal formulations. According to the traditional healers the treatment of Pyorrhea takes long time. This is the reason the healers suggest the patients to use herbs as preventive before the starting of trouble.

The natural forests of Chhattisgarh are rich in natural population of Khair trees. Many villages and cities are named on the basis of dense population of this tree. The example of Khairagarh is one of the examples. The scientific name of Khair is Acacia catechu. The traditional healers of Khair rich areas of Chhattisgarh use the bark of Khair in treatment of Pyorrhea. It is used both as preventive and curative. The barks are collected and by boiling it in water, a decoction is prepared. The patients are advised to gargle with this decoction in order to get rid from this problem. In general, the patients are advised to gargle with the decoction in every hour. The traditional healers are aware of this fact that the un-scientific collection of Khair bark can result in destruction of trees. This is the reason they take special precaution during collection. In general, they collect the barks by adopting rotational harvesting method. The healers informed me that in early days there was no necessity of using this method but now it is must to adopt the method to save the sufficient trees for future use. Many traditional healers use the Khair bark in different ways. They boil the fresh bark in Sarson (Mustard) oil. When all watery contents evaporate, boiling is stopped. The healers suggest the patients to use the oil to massage the gums gently. As home remedy, the natives of Chhattisgarh Plains, use the fresh juice of Piaz (Onion) bulbs in treatment of Pyorrhea. It is used as gargle.

The natives use Lason (Garlic) also successfully in treatment. The eight cloves of Lason bulb are taken and mixed with two teaspoonful of common salt (Namak). This mixture is dried and kept for future use. The natives use this mixture as herbal tooth powder daily morning. As it is effective to great extent, it is very popular among youths also. But youths use it at night before going to sleep instead of its use during morning time. As internal treatment, the traditional healers of Bilaspur region suggest the patients to extract the juice of Gajar (Carrot), Mooli (Radish) and Tamatar (Tomato) and mix it in equal proportion. According to the healers the regular intake of this combination have many health benefits. It is specially beneficial for the patients having the problem of Pyorrhea. As I always mention in my articles that the growers of these vegetables crops use heavy doses of pesticides during its commercial production, the traditional healers are not in favour of using these unhealthy produces for treatment of any disease. From my Guru Shri Vishal Bharat I got an important information on use of Gulab flower (Rosa indica) in treatment of Pyorrhea. He was suggesting the patients to eat one flower as such daily in order to get rid from this trouble. The flowers of indigenous species are preferred. My many family friends have tried this use successfully. The traditional medicinal knowledge about common herbs and herbal formulations useful in treatment of Pyorrhea in Chhattisgarh have yet not available in from of written documentation. This article is first written document on this aspect. I will write more on this aspect in future articles.

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