13. JANU BASTI

The specialty of this treatment is that it can be administered both in a healthy, as well as the diseased person.
Janu basti is one of the upakarma (sub-type) of Panchakarma.
The Janubasti is specialized knee therapy.
The ‘knee joint’ is called ‘Janu Sandhi’ in Sanskrit; hence the name Janu Basti is given to the procedure done on knee joints.
The word ‘janu’ refers to ‘knees’ and ‘Basti’ stands for ‘container’ or ‘retaining something inside’ mainly the medicated oil.
This procedure is done in order to strengthen the knee architecture i.e muscles, joints and improvise the functions of knee joint thereby preventing it from further degenerative changes.
Depending on the condition it can be practiced over both the knee joints or on one knee joint. Knee joints are considered as sandhi Marma in Ayurveda (Joint type of vital areas).

PROCEDURE:

The patient is made to sit in a comfortable position with both legs extended. The mould is fixed on one or both knees made with the help of the flour of black gram dough of suitable height.
Medicated oil of suitable temperature is poured inside the prepared wall and retained for about 30-40minutes.
The warmth of the oil is maintained throughout the procedure.
At the end of the procedure the dough is removed, a gentle massage is given over the area. The person is made to take rest for a while.

BENEFITS:

1) Relief from the knee pain.
2) Improvement in the movement of the knee.
3) Reduces the swelling.
4) Increased weight bearing capacity of knees.

INDICATION: