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Tips for Ayurvedic Skin Care

With the advent of globalization, there has been a great drive towards the use of alternative medicine. Among the several options that are available in the market, there is ayurvedic skin care products. These new kind of skin care products are native to India, a land where civilization has survived for thousands of years. No wonder then that they formulated skin treatments. However, how ayurvedic skin product function and what is the relation between ayurveda and skin discoloration?

The first step in understanding the relation between ayurveda and skin is to know what this domain of alternative medicine is about, the various possible treatments, which exist for the skin and why is it that, years after the industrial revolution, we have just started to hear about them.

What is Ayurvedic Medicine?
Also known as Ayurveda, this alternative form of medicine was developed and discovered in India. Though there is no evidence of when did this branch of medicine appeared, however most practitioners claim that the science of ayurveda is at least 5000 years old.
A Sanskrit word, ayurveda is a combination of two words, "ayur" means lifespan and "ved" means knowledge, or science, so ayurveda can be literally described as the science of life and longevity. Life span can be defined as the balanced union of body, mind, senses and consciousness. Ayurveda is a "consciousness-based" holistic approach, which focuses on these four components of life.

The Basics of Ayurvedic Medicine
Ayurveda is a holistic approach that perceived body as a whole. This holistic view can be combined with the precept that determined vegetables, animals and minerals have medicinal properties, which can be applied to humans. The medicinal values of these ingredients have been carefully recorded by hundreds of practitioners for centuries.

There are various examples of how these ingredients and mixtures can benefit your body in the treatment or recovery of different kinds of diseases. For example, there is Shirodhara, the principle of which is that the pouring of liquids in the forehead, the place were, supposedly, out third eye is situated. The procedure is also used by spas as a relaxing technique.

Is it Applied in the West?
Alternative medicine hasn't been popular in western countries. Decades ago, it was perceived as a type of medicine, which offer no scientific value and, most probably, no actual benefits for the patients. This appreciation may have had its origins with questionable treatment measures, like those taken during the black plague and the ill-remembered bloodletting.

So, after the scientific methods and techniques were implemented in western countries, there was little or nor room for esoteric medicine and principles, which had an origin based in mystical concepts than the trial and proof of western system of treatment. In the case of India, ayurvedic treatment procedures were not in great demand, until its independence from the British Empire (in 1947), that they begin to push the use and application of ayurvedic medicine.

Unfortunately, after so many decades, ayurvedic treatment procedure, even ayurvedic skin care, is not still well conceived in western countries. Though there are several medical schools in India, which offer specialization in ayurvedic medicine, the branch is still considered as an esoteric field of medicine in the US. The good news is that research centers like the National Institute of Ayurvedic Medicine are working to increase awareness about its benefits and advantages.

Top Ayurvedic Tips for Skin Care
The first thing, which you need to know in your ayurvedic skin care, is to determine the kind of skin that you have. According to the ayurvedic medicine, there are three types of skin, viz. vata, pitta and kapha. Vata skin is dry and very sensitive to climate changes. The skin gets easily dehydrated and may cause "breaks" in the determined joints, such as the knuckles that may cause some minor bleeding. The same thing may happen with the lips.

Pitta skin is soft and prone to freckles and moles because of its low tolerance to sunrays. If the pitta skin goes out of balance, it may react in different ways, like acne, sunspots or even rashes.

Kapha skin is quite tolerant to the sun because of its oily consistency and thickness. A kapha skin ages sloer than other skin types and does not wrinkle. Unfortunately, this skin type causes some inconvenience like water retention and pimples due to the excessive oil and eczema.

It is important to note that the combinations between these different skin types also exist, so its is important to determine what kind of skin a person is having before applying a proper skin treatment. The ideal way to do it is through an ayurvedic skin care specialist.

An important thing is to combat stress. Believe it or not, stress is one of the main factors behind our several ailments and our skin is no stranger to it. In order to combat stress, a person needs to sleep well, do some kind of physical activity (for example, yoga), which relaxes your mind and body, eat healthy food and visit once in a while, a spa in order to receive an ayurvedic skin treatment.

Ayurveda and skin de-coloration are strongly related. Various ailments that affect our skin, can be cured with ayurvedic medicine. Just think about it. If you want a fairer skin, you can achieve it using ayurvedic solutions. Ayurveda is not a magical solution, but in reality is an accumulation of the knowledge of thousands of years.