A Randomized Controlled Trial to Compare the Effect of Ag-Nikarma With Jaggery and Mustard Oil in Tennis Elbow

Tennis elbow or Lateral epicondylitis is a condition characterised by pain and tenderness at the lateral epicon-dyle of the humerus. It is associated with particular occupations and lifestyles. It often arises from the strain of the fibres of the common extensor tendon at its origin from the lateral epicondyle of the humerus. From an Ayurvedic point of view, Tennis elbow may be considered a Snayugathavata Vikara. Acharya Susrutha men-tioned Agnikarma as a treatment of choice for Snayugathavata Vikara. Salaka has been used regularly for this process irrespective of the structure involved or the level of the pathology. The Dahanopakarana mentioned for Snayugathavata Vikara are Guda(jaggery), Kshaudra(honey), Taila(oil), etc., as they have deep heat penetration capacity with a more significant latent heat period. Recently, many clinical research studies have been conduct-ed to discover the most effective and straightforward process in Snayugathavata Vikara, especially in Tennis Elbow. So far, no clinical trial has been undertaken to evaluate the comparative effect of different Snigdha Da-hanopakarana mentioned by Acharyas in Snayugatavata Vikara. The present study compares the impact of Ag-nikarma using Jaggery and Mustard oil in Tennis elbow. A randomised clinical study was conducted with 36 participants of the age group 20-60 years who had tennis elbows from the OP and IP departments of Salyatantra, satisfying inclusion and exclusion criteria. The participants were randomly selected and divided into two groups. Agnikarma with Jaggery in control group A and Agnikarma with Mustard oil in trial group B were done in a sin-gle sitting. Per subjective and objective criteria, participants were assessed before and after treatment. The fol-low-up was done on the 7th and 30th day after treatment. Statistical analysis found a significant difference in the effect of Agnikarma using Mustard oil compared to that of Jaggery in the management of tennis elbow.