Panchakarma is a Sanskrit word. which means five actions . The use of five procedures used to purify body is known as Panchakarma.

The procedure have two ways of doing it . either by controlling the doshas and pacifying them or by eliminating them from body by use of different modalities.

There are regional variations and different voices on practice of Panchakarma.

According to Charaka, the five actions are Nasya (nasal therapy), Vamana (emesis or vomiting), Virechana (purging) and two kinds of Vasti (therapeutic enema), Nirooha Vasti and Sneha Vasti. Herbal decoctions are used for Nirooha Vasti and herbal oils for Sneha Vasti.

Another school, that of the surgeon Sushruta, regards Rakta (blood) also as a dosha (humour), the vitiation of which can cause diseases, and advocates Raktamokshana (bloodletting) as the fifth in the Panchakarma therapies. In this school the five therapies are Nasya, Vamana, Virechana, Vasti and Raktamokshana. As bloodletting involves medical venesection, it is no longer popular. Leeching, however, is still practised.