A clinical evaluation of Siddha herbal formulation Panchathaarai kuzhambu (Internal medicine) and Ottrai thalaivali thylam (External medicine) in the management of Ottrai thalaivali (Migraine)

Migraine is a syndrome of headache which is benign and re-occurring, along with various neurological dysfunctions, nausea/vomiting etc, affecting about 20% of females and 6% of males at some point in life. It affects over one billion people worldwide. According to Siddha, Ottrai thalaivali (migraine) is characterized as unilateral headache, lacrimation, irritability, sighing, fatigue, tremor, startling, loss of appetite and tingling sensation. Research studies regarding Migraine was searched in databases like PubMed, Google scholar, scopus, web of science, using keywords Migraine and siddha, Migraine AND Panchathaarai kuzhambu, Ottrai thalaivali and Clinical trial. Eventhough, there are a few papers proving the effectiveness of ayurvedic treatment regimens for migraine, No works have been found relating siddha clinical trials and migraine. Also as the disease requires long term management, there is a need to look for herbal formulations that can be effective in the management of Migraine. The herbal formulations Panchathaarai kuzhambu and Ottrai thalaivali thylam have been taken for the study to prove its effectiveness on Migraine. A Clinical trial was conducted on 10 patients diagnosed with Ottrai thalaivali(Migraine). The trial drugs Panchathaarai kuzhambu was given in a dose of 2gms twice daily along with cow’s milk and Ottrai thalaivali, 70ml as bath oil twice in a week, given for 48 days. The results using HIT-6 Score and Headache diary showed that there was significant relief in the patients and there was no untoward side-effects in any patients.