How does leech therapy for blood circulation helps to treat blood diseases?
Leech is a boon to medicine. Because the usage for various medical applications is traced back thousands of years ago. Before the Christian era, medicinal leeching was mentioned in 1500 BC. The Greek poets mentioned leeches in his medical poems. In ancient times, Greek physicians used leeches for bloodletting and for treating rheumatic pains, gout, etc. Let’s see “How does leech therapy for blood circulation helps to treat blood decease?”
The usage of leeches during that period depended upon the concept of Galen. Galen prescribed bloodletting by leech for almost all illnesses. Leeches are used in Ayurveda since ancient times.
In Ayurveda, there are three types of doshas- vaat (space and air), pitta (fire and water), and kapha (water and earth). Rakt is considered as the fourth dosh according to Sushrut Samhita and Rakt moksha is one of the treatments in Panchakarma.
So Rakt moksha is bloodletting. This bloodletting is the removal of impure blood from the body. It can be done by a number of methods and leech therapy is one of them.
As we know snakes are poisonous and non-poisonous. Similarly, leeches are also poisonous and non-poisonous. The leeches that are used for therapy are non-poisonous. But they have to be very careful because if they use poisonous, it can become the source of infection.
Also, they can suffer from swelling, itching, ulcers, fever, vomiting, etc. Leaches with a thin tiny head, emerald green colour, tiny and rounded like rat’s tail are found in moist rich places, where frogs are in abundance. Leeches with long head, black, grey or green colour are described as poisonous.
Need for the leech therapy for blood circulation
Blood is the main factor in life. It is the root of our bodies. Blood helps in circulation, muscle development, etc. It also makes our organs active. Blood becomes impure due to several reasons such as eating junk food, keeping awake till late in the night, depression, etc. So we need to pure blood.
Leeches improve the blood flow to the parts of the body where it has stopped or slowed down.
Leech takes out all the doshas (kapha, pitta, vaat) of your body. Bloodletting is based on the concept of a Humoral imbalance that is an imbalance of various bodily fluids. Their imbalance causes diseases, whereas restoration of the balance leads to health.
Bloodletting can be given in the form of venesection (removing blood from the system through a cut), leech therapy is an essential part of blood circulation.
Sometimes bloodletting is done automatically by our body but in somebody parts bloodletting is not done so leech therapy is very useful for this purpose. By Purgation and Emesis therapy, the excretory system excretes the dosh of the body but organs do not excrete the dosh of the body.
So leech therapy works on the principles of excretion of excess fluids from the body. It, therefore, maintains the stability in the quality and quantity of four senses of humour (associated with fundamental elements of water, air, fire, earth) which is actually responsible for the maintenance of normal health.
Leech therapy is also approved by the FDA (Food and drug administration) in 2004.
Studies showed that the people who donate blood on a regular basis have significantly less chronic diseases and a host of other problems. So there is a real value in understanding the magic of bloodletting. Instead of donating blood, leech therapy can reduce all diseases at one time.
Who needs to do leech therapy?
The most common reason to do leech therapy is because of too much iron in your blood and a lot of people have normal iron when you go to get your regular blood tests and it’s fine but what doctors generally recommend is a test called the ferritin test.
Ferritin is the storage content of iron in your blood and that number is oftentimes chronically high. So to avoid those tests given by the doctors, leech therapy is very essential because it removes impure blood that would heal the body.
The procedure of the leech therapy
Leeches have two ends. One takes the support and the second part is its head. The head portion is applied to the body. Leeches are survived in water.
The best months to bring them for treatment are September-October. Because at that time our pitta dosh increases and we need to pureblood and for that purpose, leeches are brought for treatment. Avoid a leech if it is big in size or if it has low blood or if it looks dangerous.
Because a person can suffer from an infection or it can cause death. Leeches are harvested, cleaned; they are grown with specific standards by the institute before they are placed on your body.