Ayurvedic management of alopecia areata: A case report

Índralupta is a disease characterized by patches of hair loss spread throughout the body and scalp. It can be considered alopecia areata according to conventional medical care. The present case report is on the effectiveness of shodhana (treatment in which aggravated doshas are expelled from the body) and shamana (treatment that pacifies the aggravated doshas) in the patient of índralupta. A patient 25 years old, had hair loss patches on the scalp and many other areas of the body. The patient took conventional modern medicine as well as ayurveda treatment but didn’t get a satisfactory result. The patient was hospitalized and treated with vamana (medicated emesis), virechana (medicated purgation), basti (administration of medicine through procto-colonic route), raktamokshana (blood-letting), and nasya (medicine administered through nasal route) along with shamana treatment for more than 6 weeks. The hair eruption started from many patches of the scalp and whole body. In this case, regrowth of hair from hair follicles was evident within 15 days of treatment. The collected data of this study suggest that shodhana and shamana treatment can provide noteworthy relief in índralupta.