This word literally means oral intake of medicated oils or ghee preparations. This is done as a therapeutic procedure and also as a preparatory process during the body purification therapy. In this ayurvedic treatment medicated ghee or oils are given internally in proportionally increasing quantity for a period of 5 – 7 days. This ayurvedic treatment is very effective for digestive disorders like ulcers and Irritable Bowel Syndrome, certain skin diseases like psoriasis, rashes, boils, osteoarthritis, hemorrhoids etc. Moderate and superior doses of snehapanam are found to be effective for urinary disorders, diabetes mellitus, gout and epilepsy.
Medicated ghee, eaten on empty stomach, for its first hand therapeutic value, is called snehapanam. The ayurvedic treatment involves the removal of hard-bound toxins and wastes from the body. Snehapanam is one of the excellent preparatory methods before Panchakarma.