Review of Pain: An Ayurvedic Approach

Pain is a serious problem globally due to its high prevalence and is regarded as the fifth vital sign. The standard methods comprising of NSAID and opioid group, interventional methods and implantable methods; although often very effective, have known adverse effects on gastrointestinal, renal and cardiovascular systems and surgical risks. Ayurvedic pain management comprises of pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches. In this review, we have discussed pain management using herbal and herbomineral formulations. We began with comparison of Ayurvedic concept of pain with that of Biomedicine to arrive at concurrence and then systematically searched the databases PubMed and Scopus using search terms 'pain management, animal models of pain, Ayurveda and herbal medicine'. Out of 160 initial papers, 16 studies involving a total of 1591 participants befitting inclusion criteria were analyzed for the type of pain, intervention, outcome measures and results and others were rejected. PRISMA is followed to report the findings. Studies on Ayurvedic medicines were conducted in three different countries. Eight of them were RCT's with five multi-centered studies. Three single herbs, six polyherbal formulation, one herbomineral formulation and various external therapies were identified. The studies used standard scales like VAS or WOMAC index for analyzing the intensity of pain and showed statistically significant results to Ayurvedic medications in various pain conditions without any adverse effects. This review gives a comprehensive understanding of the concept of pain and its management from both Biomedicine and Ayurveda. It also highlights the unexplored potential of many herbomineral formulations to treat pain.