Simple physiological disorders like acne, warts and infectious conditions can lead to psychosomatic disorders due to modern living. While there are several options to treat them, ‘Shirodhara’, the ancient practice of dripping oil over the forehead, is considered the queen of Ayurvedic treatment.
The word, split into ‘Shiro’ (meaning head) and ‘dhara’ (flow), indicates the rejuvenating therapy designed to tackle mental exhaustion and address the ill-effects on the central nervous system.
“Dripping the oil, maintained at a temperature of 45ºCelsius, for 45 minutes continuously between the eyebrows causes a tactile stimulation of skin or hair follicles and the impulses would be transmitted to the thalamus”, says Ayurvedic practitioner K. Parthasarathy, who is a product of the TTD’s Sri Venkateswara Ayurvedic College, Tirupati. Internal stress and sensitivity often lead to autoimmune diseases and cause psychosomatic diseases.
While Japanese scientists have started studying the psychoneuroimmunologic changes achieved through ‘Shirodhara’, Dr. Parthasarathy also cited a study by NIMHANS Bengaluru on a patient suffering from progressive degenerative cerebellar ataxias that showed improvement in balance after 14 days of ‘Shirodhara’.
Milk and buttermilk tooWhile the main medium is an array of oils, it is a practice to use milk and buttermilk for certain cases. Using buttermilk (called as ‘Takradhara’), with a mixture of Yashtimadhu, Brahmi, Triphala and Vettiver, is meant to prevent hair fall and tackle mental disorders, while milk is used to address mood disorders and behavioural abnormalities.
