AYURVEDIC SPORTS MEDICINE GAINS WIDE ACCEPTANCE

The Times of India
Friday, March 20, 2015
Kannur, Kerala

The role of ayurveda in sports medicine is increasing day by day and the sports personalities have also started realising this, according to the experts.

Though it is a relatively new wing of the ayurveda, which focuses on the health aspects of sports personalities, including stamina and flexibility of the body, more and more people have showed interest it, said Dr P V Srinivasan, coordinator of the Sports Ayurveda unit, under the Indian Systems of Medicine Department in Kannur.

It was this acceptance which prompted the authorities to organise a two-day workshop here, 'Drona 2015', for the doctors, trainers, physical education teachers and students, he said.

In the workshop, which concluded on Thursday, the experts were of the opinion that the role of sports ayurveda was immense in the performance of the Kerala women's team which clinched gold in the basketball event in the recent National Games, said Srinivasan.

"In this system, no steroids are used and also most of the injuries are treated without any surgical intervention," he said.

Though the system had been practiced in India since time immemorial, especially for the warriors, it was recently that sports ayurveda got some recognition in the sports scenario in the country, said A V Suresh, DMO, Indian Systems of Medicine.

"We can assure that ayurvedic treatment will not come under doping and also it is highly effective in treating soft tissue injuries like ligament, tendom, meniscus," he said. "Since the scar formation is less and tissue regeneration is speedy in ayurvedic treatment, it enables the injured sports personalities to come back to sports field rather quickly."

The students of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Thalassery and the sports division in Kannur regularly come for treatment and its efficacy has been scientifically proved, he said.

The 50-bed sports ayurveda hospital coming up in Thrissur is also underscores the recognition it has in the modern times, said the experts in the field. In the workshop, experts took classes on various subjects in sports ayurveda.