Impact force measurement in Shirodhara

BACKGROUND: Shirodhara is an ayurvedic procedure usually administered to alleviate mental stress. The process involves impact on the forehead by a free fall of a continuous stream of temperature controlled fluid. OBJECTIVE: In this study, the impact force generated on the forehead due to fluid falling from dhara pot held at a standard height of 4 angulas is measured passing through a traditional wick. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The variation of this impact force for different medicinal oils such as Ksheerabala oil, Mahanarayana oil and water is studied. The measurements are made using an Integrated Circuit Piezoelectric force sensor designed to measure low loads. RESULTS: The impact force is found to be order of 10(−2) N and is observed to marginally vary with the type of liquid used in the experiment. The force was found to build up an average duration of 7.2 ms linearly over a time. CONCLUSION: It was observed that the impact force generated on the human forehead due to Shirodhara treatment was low and is invariant to the medicinal oils used in the treatment. The measured forces correlate closely with the force estimates made from simple fluid mechanics. These forces have an important role in the estimate of stresses, displacements and voltage generated due to the impact associated with Shirodhara.