Effect of Traditional Marma Manipulation in Osteoarthritis of Knee – A Case Report

—Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common degenerative arthritic condition prevalent in the population worldwide, which occurs as a result of wear and tear and progressive loss of articular cartilage. The symptoms of OA knee include pain, stiffness, swelling and limited range of motion. In modern medicine, treatment ranges from conservative methods to surgical procedures depending on the severity of the condition. Clinical features of osteoarthritis are similar to those of sandhigata vata, which includes shula pradhana vedana, sandhi sopha with ‘vatapurnadruthisparsa' and restricted movements of the joint. According to Acharya Sushruta, treatment principle of sandhigata vata is mentioned as sneha, upanaha, agnikarma, bandhana and unmardana. So, unmardana was selected for the study to reduce the symptoms of OA knee. Unmardana can be correlated to traditional marma manipulation. Manipulation is indicated when adhesions have formed as a result of chronic arthritis. It is usually performed to relieve joint pain, restore joint movements and to correct the deformity. So, marma manipulation prevents further progression of the disease and also provide symptomatic relief to great extent. In this study, traditional marma manipulation was done on the 0th and 14th day and follow-up was done on 28th and 42nd day. The clinical assessment was based on the parameters; pain, stiffness and physical function using WOMAC scale; swelling, crepitus, tenderness and range of motion using grading scales