Gujarat: Mehsana villages start community inhalation centres

AHMEDABAD: Every morning, some 20-30 persons queue up outside village sarpanch Pina Patel’s residence in Tareti village located about 3 km from Mehsana. It is not a queue for Covid test or medicine but for another sort of prophylactic – a steam inhalation of an ayurvedic concoction!
“In our village of 3,000 population, we had 10 active cases. Even I got positive and then recovered. During that period, I had heard about benefits of steam inhalation by a centre run in Untva village near Kadi,” said Pina Patel.“I was impressed by the simple but effective mechanism and replicated it in our village. It’s giving good results.”

Across Mehsana, the steam chambers is a fad revived in the current wave of the pandemic. At places like Untva, about 100-120 persons take their daily dose of steam.
Operators claim that it attracts people from as far as Ahmedabad. Initially a free service, the operators have started monetizing it after its popularity and spike in demand. “It is still offered gratis to the unaffording,” says Mahendra Patel, sarpanch of Untva, who set up the first such steam chamber six months ago.

“It doesn’t have any side effects, and those who regularly take it claim to feel the benefit. We put 25 different herbs and medicinal plants in a big pot and cover it with a lid. We boil it till it starts emanating steam.
The steam is directed to a nearby chamber where a person stands and inhales it for two to three minutes with deep breaths,” Patel explained the procedure.

Several other villages in the vicinity have also replicated the model that requires investment of about Rs 25,000 for one time and recurring cost of an LPG cylinder to boil the water.
Experts said that inhaling the steam is surely good and is advocated as part of Covid-19 therapy too, but its indiscriminate use must be avoided. “In ayurveda, the method is identified as Svedan chikitsa (sweat therapy) where the patient’s pores get opened up and the properties of a steam get inside the respiratory system,” said Vd Bhavdeep Ganatra, a city-based Ayurveda practitioner.

“Steam treatment is good for Covid-19, but it must take place under supervision of an expert. The reason is – every person’s profile is different. For example, those with pitta nature must not be exposed much. They can develop rashes on the skin. Excessive inhalation can lead to drying-up of mouth cavity, loss of water and giddiness in some cases,” he added.