Health benefits of pendant from the viewpoint of Persian medicine

Abstract

Background: Reviewing historical evidence in the various schools of traditional medicine shows that numerous methods have been used to maintain human good health and treatment of diseases. Persian medicine (PM) scholars have been employed different methods to prescribe medications, which can be classified into two main groups: internal uses, including oral, parenteral, and anal, and also external uses such as topical, transdermal, and applying pendants. In this study, we aim to introduce some of the therapeutic pendants. Methods: We reviewed the most famous PM textbooks and current evidence in relevant databases such as PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, Google scholar and SID related to the topic. Results: In this study, about 100 traditional therapeutic substances were found and finally, thirty-two of them were represented. They were often stones, and some of them were other materials such as metals, gums, and herbs. According to the PM, the utilization of pendants, in addition to cosmetic purposes, has been considered to maintain the health and treatment of some diseases. Therapeutic pendants can be considered as a kind of external medication use in which therapeutic materials are hung on the body surface. The external use of pendants could have curative effects with their close contact to the body surface. Conclusion: Pendant therapy may probably be considered as a non-invasive and easy-to-use treatment with unnoticeable side effects that can be utilized along with other therapies.