Holistic Concept of Bahaq Wa Bars and Their Management in Unani (Greco-Arabic) System of Medicine

A comprehensive description of Amraze jild (skin diseases) is available in classical Unani literature. Ancient Greco-Arabic scholars have described Bahaq wa Bars (pityriasis and vitiligo) in detail along with etiopathogenesis, clinical features, complications, and management in their treatises. According to Razi, Ibn Sina, and Majoosi, Bahaq was Bars are chronic skin ailments that are characterized by white discoloration (hypopigmentation) of skin but with a precise difference. While in case of Bahaq, these patches are located superficially on skin, in Bars these are located deep into the skin. These are humoral diseases occurring because of accumulation of excess or morbid Balgham (phlegm) beneath the skin leading to the weakness of quwate mughaiyarah (augmentative faculty) of skin. Ancient Unani scholars have been treating these ailments successfully since antiquity. They have mentioned and practised a compendium of single as well as compound herbo-mineral formulations for the treatment of Bahaq wa Bars. In this paper, authors have tried to elucidate the holistic concept of these skin aliments along with the treatment as mentioned in classics of Unani medicine.