If all men and women were to obey
all the laws of health, and practice strict Brahmacharya, there would be no
need at all for the chapters which follow, for such men and women would then be
free from all ailments, whether of the body or of the mind. But where can such
men and women be found? Where are they who have not been afflicted by disease?
The more strictly, however, we observe the laws which have been explained in
this book, the more shall we be free from disease. But when diseases do attack
us, it is our duty to deal with them properly, and the following chapters are
intended to show how to do it.
Pure air, which is so essential
to the preservation of health, is also essential to the cure of diseases. [Pg
84]If, for instance, a man who is suffering from gout is treated with air
heated by steam, he perspires profusely, and his joints are eased. This kind of
vapour-treatment is known as “Turkish Bath.”
If a man who is suffering from
high fever is stripped naked, and made to sleep in the open air, there is an
immediate fall in the temperature, and he feels a distinct relief. And if, when
he feels cold, he is wrapped in a blanket, he perspires at once, and the fever
ceases. But what we generally do is just the reverse of this. Even if the
patient is willing to remain in the open air, we close all the doors and
windows of the room in which he lies, and cover his whole body (including the
head and ears) with blankets, with the result that he is frightened, and is
rendered still weaker. If the fever is the outcome of too much heat, the sort
of air-treatment described above is perfectly harmless, and its effect can be
instantly felt. Of course, care should be taken that the patient does not begin
to shiver in the open air. If he cannot remain naked, he may well be covered
with blankets.
Change of air is an effective
remedy for latent fever and other diseases. The common practice of taking a
change of air is only an application of the principle of air-treatment. We
often change our residence in the belief that a house constantly infested by
disease is the resort of evil spirits. This is a mere delusion, for the real
“evil spirits” in such cases are the foul air inside the house. A change of
residence ensures a change of air, and with it the cure of the diseases brought
on by it. Indeed, so vital is the relation between health and air that the good
or evil effects of even a slight change are instantaneously felt. For a change
of air the rich can afford to go to distant places, but even the poor can go
from one village to another, or at least from one house to another. Even a
change of room in the same house often brings great relief to a sick man. But,
of course, care should be taken to see that the change of air is really for the
better. Thus, for instance, a disease that has been brought on by damp air
cannot be cured by a change to a damper locality. It is because sufficient
attention is not paid to simple precautions like this that a change of air is
often so ineffectual.
Water Therapy
Since air is invisible, we cannot
perceive the wonderful way in which it does its work. But the work of water and
its curative effects can be easily seen and understood.
All people know something of the
use of steam as a curative agent. We often employ it in cases of fever, and
very often severe headaches can be cured only by its application. In cases of
rheumatic pain in the joints, rapid relief is obtained by the use of steam followed
by a cold bath. Boils and ulcers not cured by simple dressing with ointments
can be completely healed by the application of steam.
In case of extreme fatigue, a
steam-bath or a hot-water bath immediately followed by a cold bath will be
found very effective. So too, in cases of sleeplessness, instant relief is
often obtained by sleeping in the open air after a steam-bath followed by a
cold bath.
Hot water can always be used as a
substitute for steam. When there is severe pain in the stomach, instant relief
is obtained by warming with a bottle filled with boiling water placed over a
thick cloth wrapped round the waist. Whenever there is a desire to vomit, it
can be done by drinking plenty of hot water. Those who are suffering from
constipation often derive great benefit by drinking a glass of hot water either
at bedtime or soon after rising and cleaning the teeth in the morning. Sir
Gordon Spring attributed his excellent health to the practice of drinking a
glass of hot water every day before going to bed and after getting up in the
morning. The bowels of many people move only after taking tea in the morning,
and they foolishly suppose that it is the tea which has produced this effect.
But, as a matter of fact, tea only does harm, and it is really the hot water in
the tea that moves the bowels.
A special kind of cot is often
used for steam-baths, but it is not quite essential. A spirit or kerosine oil
stove, or a wood or coal fire, should be kept burning under an ordinary cane
chair. Over the fire should be placed a vessel of water with the mouth covered;
and over the chair a sheet or blanket is so spread that it may hang down in the
front and protect the patient from the heat of the fire. Then the patient
should be seated in the chair and wrapped round with sheets or blankets. Then
the vessel should be uncovered, so that the patient may be exposed to the steam
issuing from it. Our common practice of covering the head also of the patient
is a needless precaution. The heat of the steam presses through the body right
up to the head, and gives rise to profuse perspiration on the face. If the
patient is too weak to sit up, he may be made to lie down on a cot with
interstices, taking care to see that none of the steam escapes. Of course, care
should also be taken to see that the patient’s clothes or the blankets used do
not catch fire; and due consideration should be paid to the state of the
patient’s health, as an inconsiderate application of steam is fraught with
danger. The patient, indeed, feels weak after a steam bath, but this weakness
does not last long. Too frequent use of steam, however, enfeebles the
constitution, and it is of the highest importance to apply steam with due
deliberation. Steam may also be applied to any single part of the body; in
cases of headache, for instance, there is no need to expose the whole body to
the steam. The head should be held just over a narrow-mouthed jar of boiling
water, and wrapped round with a cloth. Then the steam should be inhaled through
the nose so that it may ascend into the head. If the nasal passage is blocked,
it will also be opened by this process. Likewise, if there be inflamation in
any part of the body, it alone need be exposed to the steam.
Very few realise the curative
value of cold water, in spite of the fact that it is even more valuable in this
respect than hot water, and can be made use of by even the weakest persons. In
fever, small-pox, and skin-diseases, the application of a sheet dipped in cold
water is very beneficial, and often produces startling results; and anybody may
try it without the least risk. Dizziness or delirium can be instantly relieved
by tying round the head a cloth dipped in melted ice. People suffering from
constipation often derive great benefit by tying round the stomach for some
time a piece of cloth dipped in melted ice. Involuntary seminal discharges can
also be often prevented by the same means. Bleeding in any part of the body may
be stopped by the application of a bandage dipped in ice-cold water. Bleeding
from the nose is stopped by pouring cold water over the head. Nasal diseases,
cold and headache, may be cured by drawing pure cold water up the nose. The
water may be drawn through one nostril and discharged through the other, or
drawn through both nostrils and discharged through the mouth. There is no harm
in the water going even into the stomach provided the nostrils are clean. And
indeed, this is the best way to keep the nostrils clean. Those who are unable
to draw the water up the nostrils may use a syringe, but after a few attempts,
it can be done quite easily. All should learn to do this, since it is very
simple, and at the same time a most effective remedy against headaches, bad
smells in the nose, as well as dirty accumulations in the nasal passage.
Many people are afraid of taking
an enema, and some even think that the body is weakened by it; but such fears
are baseless. There is no more effective means of producing an instant
evacuation of the bowels. It has proved effective in many diseases where all
other remedies have been futile; it thoroughly cleans the bowels, and prevents
the accumulation of poisonous matter. If those who suffer from rheumatic
complaints or indigestion or pains caused by an unhealthy condition of the
bowels take an enema of 2 lbs. of water, they would see how instantaneous is
its effect. One writer on this subject says that once he was suffering from
chronic indigestion and, all remedies proving futile; he had grown emaciated,
but the application of the enema at once restored him his appetite, and
altogether cured him of his complaint in a few days. Even ailments like
jaundice can be cured by the application of the enema. If the enema has to be
frequently employed, cold water should be used, for the repeated use of hot
water is likely to enfeeble the constitution.
Dr. Louis Kuhne of Germany has,
after repeated experiments, arrived at the conclusion that water-cure is the
best for all diseases. His books on this subject are so popular that they are
now available in almost all the languages of the world, including those of
India. He contends that the abdomen is the seat of all diseases. When there is
too much heat in the abdomen, it manifests itself in the form of fever,
rheumatism, eruptions on the body, and the like. The efficacy of water-cure
had, indeed, been recognised by several people long before Kuhne, but it was he
who, for the first time, pointed out the common origin of all diseases. His
views need not be accepted by us in their entirety, but it is an undoubted fact
that his principles and methods have proved effective in many diseases. To give
only one instance out of many that have come within my experience, in a bad
case of rheumatism, a thorough cure was effected by Kuhne’s system, after all
other remedies had been tried, and had proved utterly ineffectual.
Dr. Kuhne holds that the heat in
the abdomen abates by the application of cold water, and has, therefore,
prescribed the bathing of the abdomen and the surrounding parts with thoroughly
cold water. And for the greater convenience of bathing, he has devised a
special kind of tin bath. This, however, is not quite indispensable; the tin
tubs of an oval shape and of different sizes to suit people of different
heights, available in our bazaars, will do equally well. The tub should be
filled three-fourths with cold water, and the patient should seat himself in it
in such a fashion that his feet and the upper part of the body remain outside
the water, and the rest of the body up to the hips inside it. The feet may
preferably be placed on a low foot-stool. The patient should sit in the water
quite naked, but, if he feels cold, the feet and the upper part of the body
should be covered with a blanket. If a shirt is worn, it should be kept
entirely outside the water. The bath should be taken in a room where there is
plenty of fresh air and light. The patient should then slowly rub (or cause to
be rubbed) the abdomen with a small rough towel from 5 to 30 minutes or more.
The effect is instantly felt in most cases. In cases of rheumatism, the wind in
the stomach escapes in the form of eructations and the like, and in cases of
fever, the thermometre falls by one or two degrees. The bowels are readily
cleaned by this process; fatigue disappears; sleeplessness is removed, and
extreme drowsiness gives place to vigour. This contrariness of result is more
apparent than real; for want of sleep, and the excess of it, are both brought
on by the same cause. So too, dysentery and constipation, which are both the
outcome of indigestion, are cured by this method. Piles of long standing can
also be got rid of by this bath, with proper regulation of diet. Those who are
troubled by the necessity for constant spitting should at once resort to this
treatment for a cure. By its means the weak can become strong; and even chronic
rheumatism has been cured by it. It is also an effective remedy for
haemorrhages, headaches, and blood-poisoning. Kuhne prescribes it as an
invaluable remedy even for diseases like the cancer. A pregnant woman who takes
to it regularly will have an easy child-birth. In short, all persons, without
distinction of age or sex, can take to it with advantage.
There is another kind of bath,
known as the "Wet-Sheet-Pack", which is an unfailing remedy for various
diseases. This bath is taken in the following manner. A table or chair is
placed in the open air, big enough to allow of the patient lying on it at full
length. On it are spread (hanging on either side) some four blankets, less or
more according to the state of the weather. Over them are spread two white
thick sheets well dipped in cold water, and a pillow is placed under the
blankets at one end. Then the patient is stripped naked (with the exception of
a small waist-cloth, if he so wishes), and made to lie down on the sheets, with
his hands placed in the arm-pits. Then the sheets and blankets are, one after
another, wrapped round his body, taking care that the parts hanging under the
feet are well tucked in so as to cover them. If the patient is exposed to the
sun, a wet cloth is put over his head and face, keeping the nose always open.
At first the patient will experience some shivering, but this will soon give
place to an agreeably warm sensation. He can lie in this position from 5
minutes to an hour or more. After a time he begins to perspire, or at times
falls asleep. Soon after coming out of the sheets he should bathe in
cold-water. This is an excellent remedy for small-pox and fever, and
skin-diseases like the itch, the ringworm, and pimples and blotches. Even the
worst forms of chicken-pox and small-pox are completely cured by this process.
People can easily learn to take the “Wet-Sheet-Pack” themselves, and to apply
it to others, and can thus see for themselves its wonderful effect. As the
whole dirt of the body sticks to the sheets in the process of taking this bath,
they ought not to be used again without being well washed in boiling water.
Needless to say, the full benefit
of these baths cannot be derived unless the rules already mentioned as to diet,
exercise and the like are strictly observed. If a rheumatic patient, for
instance, were to take to Kuhne’s bath or to the “Wet-Sheet-Pack,” while eating
unwholesome food, living in impure air, and neglecting his exercise, how can he
possibly derive any good out of it? It is only when accompanied by strict
observance of all the laws of health that water-cure can be of any effect; and
when so employed, its effects are sure and immediate.
--- by M. K. Gandhi
