Comparative clinical study on Erandamooladi Niruha Basti using Kashaya and Rasakriya in Vatakaphaja Gridhrasi.

Basti is the prime treatment modality among panchakarma and it is referred as Ardha Chikitsa. Niruha Basti therapy is applied for various ailments in which Kashaya being a crucial ingredient. However, Kashaya must be freshly prepared and has a shorter shelf life. Therefore, its essential to adapt the prepration process of Kashaya to extend its shelf life without losing its medicinal value. In this context, Erandamooladi Niruha basti which is widely used in clinical practice, has been choosen and Rasakriya is prepared from Erandamooladi Kashaya which offers the benefit of longer shelf life and storage compared to traditional method of Kashaya prepration. Shelf life of Rasakriya is 1 year as mentioned by sharangadhara samhitha and no preservatives added, this Rasakriya is prepared once before the start of the study and stored in air tight container, during the preparation of Kashaya,Rasakriya is added. Prepared Rasakriyais mixed into warm water and stirred continuously for 2 minutes until it is fully dissolved during the process of Basti prepration which saves the time.

The prevalence rate of sciatica varies significantly ranging from 1-6% in the general population and from 40-70% in working population.  It can cause significant economic burden due to loss of work productivity so study for its effective management can reduce its burden. So to fulfill the expectations from the ayurvedic field and to find out effective and safe therapy for Gridhrasi and the duration required for the prepration can be minimized,which may prove beneficial for ayurvedic practices and Basti treatments.Therefore this particular study has been choosen.