Effectiveness of Varmam integration on the quality of pain management: A prospective observational case series

Abstract

Varmam is one of the noninvasive therapeutic procedures in the Siddha system of medicine, majorly practiced in ortho- and neuromuscular diseases. This observational case study was used to evaluate the effectiveness of Varmam integration with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs improving the quality of life by reducing the pain. Fifteen participants of both sexes on different characteristic of pain such as sharp, hot, cold, and throbbing were participated in this semiexperimental study. Precisely targeted and commonly used pain-reducing Varmam points were manipulated for the patients based on the “Guidelines for practice of Siddha Varmam Therapy”. The different aspects and types of pain that patients experienced were measured with the help of Pain Quality Assessment Scale (PQAS) used before and after the Varmam application. PQAS can help to measure the type of pain such as sharp, hot, cold, dull, aching, radiating, throbbing, heavy, shooting, tender, tingling, and unpleasant categories. Findings showed that the scores of pain, quality of pain, and depth of the pain were significantly decreased, and quality of life was significantly increased. Varmam manipulation significantly decreased the severity of pain, such as aching pain, sharp pain, radiating pain, unpleasant pain, and dull types of pain, when compared with the pain with nature of tingling and throbbing, hot and cold cramping, and dull, heavy, and numb types of pain. The unique Siddha therapeutic procedure Varmam holds a considerable position in the management of pain with or without other supportive medications. Further heightened research can prove the hypothesis.