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Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from dralkaayurveda, Doctor, TANMATRA ayurveda, Center for Thyroid and Gynaec Care, Thiruvananthapuram.

28/11/2025

If you are like me, someone who has always been hesitant about applying sunscreen, this may resonate with you. There was a time when everyone insisted on applying it again and again, with recommendations to reapply every two hours. I could not imagine using it even once a day. My logic was simple. I avoid loading my skin with too many products that might disrupt the skin barrier, and I rarely felt the need for sunscreen. For tanning, I use an Ayurvedic face mask once or twice a week, and I apply different oils in the morning and evening. This routine has kept my skin balanced, so sunscreen never felt essential.

Now the conversation has shifted, and many say sunscreen can last up to eight hours. So what was the basis of that earlier two hour rule? It brings me back to an important question. Does everyone actually need sunscreen? Maybe not. Individual understanding matters.

I have noticed something, though. People who use a lot of serums, actives, retinoids, and other strong products often say they feel much more protected with sunscreen. Their skin barrier tends to be more sensitive, which makes sense. People with high Pitta imbalance also react more strongly to sun exposure. This often comes from eating very spicy, sour, salty, or fermented foods, fasting too much, or having general internal heat. For them, sunscreen helps, but true improvement comes from treating the imbalance from within, not just applying something on top.

So while sunscreen is important for many, it may not be universally necessary. Skin type matters, lifestyle matters, and internal balance matters just as much as external care.

What are your thoughts about sunscreen? What has your experience been with it?

27/11/2025

When I first learned Ishtika Sweda, it was while helping my uncle, whose wrists and ankle often throbbed after long hours of work.

One evening, his pain was so sharp he could barely bend. I warmed a small bricks, wrapped them in a thick cloth infused with Nirgundi decoction, and gently pressed them along his back. At first he laughed, calling it an “old-fashioned trick,” but within minutes his muscles softened, his stiffness relieved, and his sigh of relief made him a lifelong believer in this simple Ayurvedic therapy. He still says, “That brick did more for me than any pain gel.”

Ishtika Sweda, also known as Ayurvedic Brick Fomentation Therapy, uses heated bricks to deliver deep, steady warmth to painful or tight areas. The heat penetrates slowly and holds longer than a hot-water bag, allowing muscles and joints to release tension naturally. The cloth wrapping can be sprinkled with herbal liquids like Dashamoola or Nirgundi, adding anti-inflammatory benefits and enhancing pain relief.

This therapy has been used traditionally as a quick remedy for sudden sprains, back pain, and post-work fatigue, especially in rural households where simple tools had to deliver powerful healing.

Precautions:

Always test the brick temperature to prevent burns. Avoid using it on open wounds, skin infections, or fresh injuries. Those with diabetes, neuropathy, bleeding disorders, or very sensitive skin should use extra caution. It is also not recommended during fever or active inflammation.

Who Should Do It:

Ishtika Sweda suits people with chronic back pain, arthritis, neck and shoulder stiffness, muscle spasms, or post-exertion soreness. It’s ideal for anyone seeking natural Ayurvedic pain relief without medication.

FOLLOW for more such interesting home remedies.

(Ishtika Sweda benefits, Ayurvedic heat therapy, brick fomentation, natural joint pain remedy, Ayurvedic treatment for muscle stiffness)

26/11/2025

For us as healers - Bhishaks, Vaidya, Doctors - our effort is always to serve and to do our best. Experience shapes us, and we remain learners throughout our journey. Even today, it still hurts to think of the people I could not help as much as I wished to, though I knew at that moment I had done what I could. Every case I feel I couldn’t heal became an opportunity to study more deeply and return to the classical texts with better focus.

Have I learnt everything even now? No. I continue to learn, and the scriptures still offer new perspectives each time I revisit them. I have heard seniors speak of Vaidyas who use medical astrology along with Ayurveda, and who sometimes choose not to treat when the time itself does not support healing. When I think of this, I remember a few patients I truly tried to help but for whom things never aligned. They remain lessons I may still need to understand.

This is also why we do not onboard every patient who approaches us - only those we feel we have the experience to handle. Even then, we have stopped giving “hope” in the old sense. Earlier, we believed offering hope would motivate people, until i realized it was being mistaken as confirmation. From that day, we changed our approach.

Now I tell patients that it is a journey we take together. We will try to heal, and I need their intuitive participation - not rigid compliance, but understanding and thoughtful implementation. If both sides stay engaged, we can support the situation better. The intention has never been to mislead; it has always been to help bring positive movement.

To those I could help, I am glad I could.
To those I couldn’t, I am sorry I couldn’t.

And for those who labelled us quacks, time has its way of bringing clarity.

22/11/2025

I came to know this during my internship days, when one of our senior doctors prescribed a particular remedy to a patient hospitalized with GBS. She had been struggling since the delivery of her child—almost bedridden for four years.

(correction - it is not mango ketonoids, it is mango ketones)

Does that mean that for serious conditions all you need to do is take care of your diet? No. Diet plays a crucial role, but it’s not the only thing. Along with diet, having the right kind of remedies is equally important. These remedies can be anti-inflammatory and they can help stabilize the nervous system. And this is how Ayurveda manages such conditions—not by just giving “a drug for a disease,” but by understanding what led to the situation in the first place.

Most often, nature will have a beautiful solution for most of our health conditions.

FOLLOW to know more

13/11/2025

That extra hint of Selenium from Brazil nuts, Iodine from Prunes, and antioxidants from Indian Gooseberry - along with six other carefully chosen adaptogens - to support your thyroid health naturally. 🦋

Each packet contains 8 laddus.
Consume 1 laddu per day with CCF tea or ginger milk.

Introductory price: ₹750/-

As we have limited stock, orders will be dispatched on a first-come, first-served basis.

For those who wish to pre-book, please comment “Thyroid Laddu” below 💛

09/11/2025

The Ayurvedic way of understanding the human body is completely different from modern medicine and its outlook. That’s why, when we say your gut issues, skin, or hormonal balance can be fixed, it sounds like a huge claim. But it doesn’t come easy. You can’t eat all kinds of inflammatory food combinations and then say it’s not proven by modern research, so you’ll continue eating them. You’ll only continue facing gut issues, skin problems, hormonal imbalance, long-standing fatigue, waking up tired, brain fog, and so on.

If you start following Ayurveda, adopting an Ayurvedic lifestyle and food habits, and eating as per your gut type and body type, half the issues you’re struggling with wouldn’t even exist. On top of that, if you get Ayurvedic treatment done for your gut, overall functioning, or any specific disease, whether it’s hormonal imbalance or gut-brain axis concerns, it gets fixed. I have seen results in people who truly follow this. Those who try to tweak things or resist understanding what we’re trying to explain don’t get the same results.

Also, if you are too held up in your emotional space, Ayurveda won’t work, because it’s a holistic science. It warms your mental space too. We can only guide you. But for you to truly benefit, it’s your responsibility to understand, and implement what we share. The patient cannot be on autopilot and expect results. The doctor cannot give a generalized instruction and expect healing either. The time and climate should also be conducive.

So yes, there is hope. And yes, it’s a little complicated. But there is hope. Ask your questions, I’m sure you’ll have many. Let me know in the comments.

Love and Light,
Dr. Alka

Address

TANMATRA Ayurveda, Center For Thyroid And Gynaec Care
Thiruvananthapuram
695003

Website

http://www.tanmatraayurveda.com/

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