EVALUATION OF ROLE OF SHIROBHYANGA WITH REFERENCE TO KESHA SWASTHYA (HEALTH OF NORMAL HAIR)

Abhyanga is one of the procedures to be practiced routinely in the system of once living. It is the most commonly indicated and extensively applied treatment procedure amongst the Bahirparimarjana Chikitsa. It reduces fatigue, bestows good vision, nurtures the body, prolongs life span and induces sound sleep; make the skin healthy and the body strong. Anointing the head with oil i.e. Shirobhyanga cures the diseases of the head, makes the hairs soft, lengthy, abundant, unctuous, and black; bestows feeling of comfort to the head, good skin of the face, nourishes the sense organs well, and gives a feeling of contentment in the head. Considering all above benefits of Abhyanga an attempt was made to evaluate role of Shirobhyanga with Til Tailam (Sesame Oil) on health of hair. Patients (age group, 20 to 35 years) attending the Outpatient Clinic of Shree Ayurved College & hospital, Nagpur, Maharashtra and meeting all the inclusion criteria were randomly selected irrespective of their sex, religion, occupation etc. Shirobhyanga was done gently with fingertips for 15 minutes daily. The procedure continued for 3 months & clinically evaluated at interval of 30days, 60 days & 90 days duration. This study confirms the beneficial effect of Shirobhyanga on health of Hair. The mean texture of hair, itching of scalp, dandruff, hair loss, significantly increased (P<0.001) but the mean score of graying of hair was lower than that of baseline value and was clinically insignificant (P>0.05). Statistically decrease in score of texture of hair, itching of scalp, dandruff, hair loss shows improvement in all the parameters except in graying of hair, in which no change is found.