A randomized comparative clinical trial on the effect ofKarpasasthyadi Pinda Sweda with two different methods ofapplication in Cervical Spondylosis

Cervical spondylosis is acommon degenerative condition of the cervical spine. It is a conditioninvolving changes to the bones, discs and joints of the neck. These changes arecaused by the normal wear-and-tear of ageing. It is one of the common causes ofneck pain. With age, the discs of the cervical spine gradually break down, losefluid, and become stiffer. Cervical spondylosis usually occurs in middle-agedand elderly people. The disease is usually progressive in nature and firstintervention is to educate the patient about the natural course of the disease.In conventional medicine, analgesics, anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxantsare used depending on the intensity of the pain.

In Ayurveda, Cervical spondylosiscan be compared to Greevasthambham. It is a vataja nanatmaja vikaramentioned by Acharya Charaka. Karpasasthyadi Pinda sweda ismentioned in Bhaishajya Ratnavali, sula rogadhikara for themanagement of pain over siras, skanda and kati. The drugs mentioned in this yoga have vatakaphaharaaction. Sweda is a procedure alleviating both vata and kapha doshas.It is mentioned in classics that, when there is vitiation of sthanika andaganthu dosha, we have to do the management of Sthanika dosha firstwhen it is stronger than Aganthu dosha. In Greevasthambham, sthanikadosha is kapha and aganthu dosha is vata. So rooksha sweda may bebeneficial at the initial stage when there is dominance of *kapha dosha.*The objective of the study is to evaluate the effect of karpsasthyadi pindasweda in cervical spondylosis by administering it in two different methods i.e.,dipping the pottali in heated dhanyamlam and steaming the pottaliin dhanyamlam. The study is comparative with pre and post-test. Consequtivecases irrespective of gender, aged 25 to 65 years, attending the IP Departmentof Govt. Ayurveda College Hospital, Tripunithura satisfying the inclusion criteriaand exclusion criteria till the attainment of sample size. Assessmentshould be done on 0th day and 8th day based on the criteria.Results will be statistically analysed.