The Role Of Kshara In Ayurveda

Sushruta (c. 7th or 6th century BCE) was a physician in ancient India known today as the "Father of Indian Medicine" and "Father of Plastic Surgery" for inventing and developing surgical procedures. His work on the subject, the Sushruta's Compendium is considered the oldest text in the world on plastic surgery. The Sushruta Samhita devotes chapter after chapter to surgical techniques, listing over 300 surgical procedures and 120 surgical instruments in addition to the 1,120 diseases, injuries, conditions, and their treatments, and over 700 medicinal herbs and their application, taste, and efficacy, which are also dealt with in depth. Kshara is an extract of the ashes of plants in Ayurveda; it is very alkaline. It is given to people to drink in a highly diluted form as a remedy for worms, indigestion, kidney stones, skin diseases, and obesity. It is also administered topically in a less diluted form, especially for problems of the anus and rectum like haemorrhoids, rectal prolapse, and to try to control infection after fistulectomy, after cutting away pilonidal sinus, and after draining abscesses in that region; it is also used on infected wounds more generally.