Treatment of insomnia with Shirodhara – A case series

Insomnia is one of the most common complaints seen in primary care following pain. This case series examines the efficacy of Shirodhara, an Ayurvedic oil therapy, in patients with moderate to severe insomnia in the United States.

Method

The case series recruited 10 participants aged 23 to 72 years, including two men and eight women. The treatment consisted of Shirodhara with Brahmi oil dripped on the forehead for 45 minutes for 5 consecutive days. Assessment was done using the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) at three time points:

Baseline (before treatment)

Day 5 (end of treatment)

1 week after treatment (follow-up)

Results

Improvement in sleep quality:

Day 5: Reduction of the ISI score by 3.85% to 69.57% (p < 0.005)

Follow-up: Further reduction of the ISI score by 8.33% to 86.96% (p < 0.089)

Average ISI score:

Baseline: 19.44

Day 5: 13.22

Follow-up: 14.33

Individual results:

Six participants showed improvement between 25.93% and 69.57%.

Three participants had only minor improvements between 3.85% and 8.33%.

One participant experienced a relapse with a worsening of -66.67%.

Side effects: No reported side effects throughout the treatment period.

The study suggests that Shirodhara with Brahmi oil could be a promising treatment option for moderate to severe insomnia. However, it is recommended to continue the treatment over a longer period of time and to include a control group to further validate the efficacy.