TAKRA DHARA

Takra dhara is a variety of shirodhara, in which medicated buttermilk is poured in a continuous stream over the forehead, in a specified manner.

Materials required:

1. Shirodhara device -1
2. Vessels-3 (To prepare takra; to prepare amalaki kwatha; to take out takra from droni)
3. Towels: 3
4. Cotton plugs: 2
5. Gauze piece(60 cm): 2
6. Amalaki Choorna: 200g
7. Milk: 1.5 litres
8. Musta: 100g
9. Oil for talam: 10 ml
10. Rasnadi Choorna: 5 g
11. Attendents-2

Preparation of the medicine:

1. a) Takra: 1.5 litres of milk diluted with 4 times water is boiled with 100g of skinned and crushed Musta tied in a muslin bag, and is reduced to the original quantity of milk. The bag of medicament is taken out and squeezed well. When cooled, this prepared milk is fermented by the addition of a little sour buttermilk over night. Next morning the fermented medicated curd is churned by adding 500ml of Amalaki kwatha. The butter is removed completely and this mixture is used for dhara after filtering.
2. b) Amalaki kwatha: 200g of dried Amalaki fruit boiled with 8 litres of water and reduced to 2 litres.1.5 litres of Amalaki kwatha is used to mix with buttermilk & 500ml of that is used to wash the head after the procedure.

Pre-operative measures:

Since it is done as a shamana therapy no poorvakarma is needed. The application of oil on head and body is usually done as a practise. Suitable oils according to roga are selected by the physician for this purpose. The eyes should be covered with eye pads and gauze should be tied around the head above the eyebrows. The ear should be plugged with two cotton pieces.

Procedure:

The patient should lie in supine position on the droni. A small pillow should be placed under the neck. The dhara pot should be kept in such a way as to allow steady flowsing of the liquid, poured into it, over the forehead of the patient. The tip of dharavarti should be 4-5 cm above the forehead of the patient and total wick length should be 8-10cm. The takra falling should be poured again into the vessel after collecting it from the droni. The vessel should always be kept oscillating so that the takra will fall into the patient’s entire forehead without interruption.

In short all the procedures are same as shirodhara, but takra should not be heated or reused.

Time to perform the procedure:

Generally the treatment is done in the morning hours, between 7-10 am. If necessary, it can be done between 4-6 pm.

Duration:

The process should be done daily for a period of 7 to 14 days. The duration of treatment as well as the time period is according to the nature of the disease and the physical condition of the patient. It is done usually for a fixed time (45minutes to 1 hour).

Post-operative procedure:

After the dhara, the head is washed with Amalaki kwatha. Then head should be wiped with towel and rasnadi choorna is applied . Patient is advised to take rest for a period same as the period of the procedure, then to take bath.

Complications and management:

Shivering is observed in some patients due to excess sheeta. In such case the procedure is stopped immediately and the patient is managed with ushnopachara.