Swedana at Home: Safe Herbal Steam for Stiff Joints
5 min read
Swedana is the Ayurvedic word for therapeutic sweating. At our center it is given in an enclosed timber chamber filled with steam from freshly boiled medicinal leaves, usually after an oil massage. Warmth and moisture ease stiffness, and the herbs carried in the steam add their own effect.
A simpler form can be used at home for an ordinary stiff knee, shoulder or lower back. It is a comfort measure, not a cure, and it has limits that are worth knowing before you begin.
Steam relieves stiffness. It does not treat the reason the joint became stiff, and that is the part that needs a physician.
The leaves we use in our own steam pavilions are ones many households can find: Nika (Vitex negundo), lemongrass and Kohomba (neem). A generous handful of fresh leaves in a pot of water is enough.
Local steam is safer at home than steaming the whole body. Treat the joint that troubles you, keep the session short, and stop at once if you feel faint or the skin begins to sting.
A safe home method
- Boil the leaves in a covered pot for ten minutes, then take the pot off the fire.
- Warm a little sesame oil and rub it gently into the joint first.
- Dip a folded cotton cloth in the hot herbal water, wring it out well and test it on your forearm before you apply it.
- Hold the warm cloth on the joint, renewing it as it cools, for ten to fifteen minutes.
- Dry the area, keep it covered and out of a draught, and drink a glass of warm water.
When to see a physician instead
Do not use steam, and arrange a consultation, in any of these situations.
- The joint is hot, red or suddenly swollen, or you have a fever.
- The pain followed a fall or an injury.
- You have numbness, weakness or pain that travels down an arm or a leg.
- You have diabetes with reduced feeling in the feet or hands, a heart condition, or you are pregnant.
- The stiffness has lasted more than two weeks or wakes you at night.
Dr. Sarath Wimalagunasekara
Founder, Chief Ayurvedic Medical Officer
Dr. Sarath graduated with clinical honours from the Institute of Indigenous Medicine at the University of Colombo. Over 28 years he has treated more than 15,000 local and international patients, and he personally oversees every Panchakarma protocol and herbal formulation prepared at the dispensary.
