Shodhanam means active therapeutic expulsion of disease causing  morbid factors (Amam ) and / or pathological Doshas from inside the  body through the five different processes. These five processes are called Panchakarma.

We all know about the three Doshas namely Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Doshas are of two types, physiological Doshas and pathological Doshas.

Physiological Doshas are the  Doshas which are essential to the body and responsible for maintaining optimal health and running all physiological activities. This Doshas should not be disturbed through any activities. But presence of pathological Doshas in our body is detrimental to our health and is considered as the  root cause of many major diseases,  decreased life span and quality of life.

The methodology and process of expulsion of these pathological Doshas from inside the  body is called Panchakarma.

Ayurveda says that   Doshas  which are only neutralised may remain  latent and create diseases. But once the pathologic Doshas and Ama  are expelled completely from the body, there will be no chance to the recurrence of the disease.

Ayurveda says that Panchakarma should be applied only when

1. The presence of pathologic Doshas (morbid matter) cross a certain threshold.
2. The Subject ( the patient ) has enough resilience to go through the entire process.

The whole Panchakarma process includes three phases.

1. Poorvakarma (Preparatory process): This prepares the body to undergo the main Panchakarma protocol. This intention of this process is to stimulate the pathological Doshas from a static state to a movable state. Poorvakarma is a scientifically curated process for facilitating the smooth expulsion of morbid or pathological DOSHAS or MALAS from inside the body.
2. Pradhana Karma

This is the main processes of Panchakarma. They are:

3. Vamanam: Vamanam is the process of therapeutic vomiting or emesis. This process is to expel mainly pathological Kapha Dosha from the chest, stomach, head and neck regions. This helps to expel Kapha-associated Pitta Dosha also. This process is found to be very effective in the management of allergies, diseases of the lungs, diseases of the central nervous system, disease of the eyes, digestive diseases etc.
4. Virechanam : Virechana is purgation. This process is to expel “pathological Pitta” from the body. The purgation medicine is decided according to the clinical status and stage of the patient. This will help mainly to expel disease causing ‘Pitta’ from the liver, gastrointestinal tract, blood spleen etc. This can help to expel pathological Data also. So this process is very effective in the disease of the liver, skin, GIT, inflammations, joint diseases, Back pain, tumors etc.
5. Nasyam: This panchakarma process is done by administering medicine through the nasal pathway. This will expel pathological “Kapha Dosha” from the neck, sinuses, central nervous system etc. So this therapy is very effective in chronic rhino sinusitis, neck pain, allergies, depression, insomnia, psychiatric disorders etc.
6. Vasthi: Vasthi is medicated enema. This is the most important of the five Panchakarma therapy. Ayurveda says that 50% of the therapy is Vasthi Karma. There are two subtypes of Vasthi. They are Anuvasava Vasthi and Nirooha Vasthi. This therapy is done to expel the pathological Vatha from the body. This therapy can extend from  3 days to 30 days. This therapy is found to be very effective in arthritis, rheumatism, neurological disease and most of the chronic diseases.
7. Raktha moksha: This process is bloodletting to remove blood which is vitiated by pathological Doshas. There are different methods of bloodletting using different medical instruments. This process is found effective in many diseases of skin, skin infection, abscess, bed –sores, non- healing ulcers, eczema, and dermatitis.