SNEHANA AS A SOLE REMEDY IN OSTEOARTHRITIS: A CASE STUDY

Abstract

Osteoarthritis is the most common chronic musculoskeletal disorder characterised by gradual loss of cartilage. It has symptoms like pain, swelling, stiffness or limited range of motion and these symptoms lie very close to the entity Sandhigata vata (osteoarthritis) in Ayurveda which is one among the 80 types of Vatavyadhi (diseases of Nervous system and musculoskeletal system). The Contemporary management has little effect on the disease. But the very detailed explanation of Ayurvedic management of Sandhigatavata is proved to be very effective. Here a case of 54year old lady who presented with complaints of Pain, swelling and restricted movements of both knee joints along with low back and bilateral shoulder joints has been included. Based on the clinical signs and symptoms she was diagnosed as a case of Sandhigata vata (osteoarthritis) and was screened with Kellgrens radiological scale. All other diseases were ruled out based on the blood investigations. Treatment planned was Snehana (oleation) externally and internally as Abhyanga (massage) and Pana (drink) respectively. Assessment of condition of the patient before and after treatment was done based on Visual analogue scale and Womac scale for pain and physical activity grading, to evaluate efficacy of the treatment. Based on the assessment parameters, significant improvement was seen in the subjective symptoms and pain scale after the completion of a schedule of 30days of treatment and a one month follow up. The physical activity grading also improved significantly. This imply on the relevance of the present study in a commonest yet incurable degenerative disease.