Clinical amelioration of severe low back pain in lumbar spondylosis using selective siddha therapeutics - A case...

Thandagavatham is one of the 80 types of Vatha diseases mentioned in Siddha literature and it is comparable to Lumbar spondylosis, a degenerative disorder of the lumbar spine in western medicine. The conventional treatment often fails in providing long term relief from pain despite the high cost of treatment. Therefore, it is of interest to report the successful treatment of Thandagavatham using a combined selected Siddha Internal and external therapy regimen providing a long-lasting relief in a shorter duration. A 42-year-old male presented to Ayothidoss Pandithar Hospital with severe lower back pain for 7 months and was diagnosed with Thandagavatham through Siddha and modern diagnostic parameters. The patient was administered 26 days of Siddha inpatient treatments including Inpatient Department (IPD) medicines, Therapeutic enemata, Oil Damming, Medicated grain fomentation and Poultice therapies followed by 38 days of internal medications in Out Patient Department (OPD). The Modified Oswestry Low Back Pain Index decreased from 70% at baseline to 7% after treatment and the Visual Analog Scale score reduced from 5/10 to 1/10 by the end of the treatment period. The patient remained symptom free even after an 8-month drugless follow-up period, suggesting that Siddha external therapies combined with internal medicines may shorten the treatment duration and provide long-term relief.