Fever: Ayurvedic Treatment, Causes & Natural Remedies

Fever is caused by the entry of vata, pitta, or kapha together with ama (toxins) into rasa dhatu. Ayurveda classifies fever as mono, dual, or triple doshic. Triple doshic fever can be compared with septicemia in modern medicine. During fever, appetite is low because agni from the gastrointestinal tract is pushed into rasa dhatu, depleting the digestive fire. However, excess fire in rasa dhatu creates an internal feeling of heat and also goes into the mental faculties, creating anger.

Kapha-type fever begins with low agni and toxins moving from the stomach to rasa dhatu, presenting with runny nose, cold, congestion, and cough. Vata-type fever begins in the colon with constipation, leading to shivering, body ache, insomnia, and anxiety. Pitta-type fever starts in the small intestine and causes high temperature, temporal headache, nausea, irritability, photophobia (sensitivity to light), and sometimes diarrhea or dysentery.

Since rasa dhatu has kapha characteristics, any fever that enters rasa creates some kapha symptoms. Hence kapha-type colds and fever are most common. With vata provocation there is less congestion, with pitta aggravation more inflammation, and with increased kapha, more congestion.