A CONCEPTUAL STUDY OF AMSA MARMA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO FROZEN SHOULDER: A REVIEW

Abstract

Marma is a very important concept of Ayurveda. The science of marma is a unique and outstanding Ayurvedic concept with great value. Marma is centres of vital force i.e., prana. Marma is described in Samhitas in detail with respect to its number, site, structure, traumatic effects, the predominance of Panchamahabhuta and its clinical aspect. The total number of marma is said to be 107. Acharya Sushruta has given the number of marma in different anatomical parts of the body, namely urdhva jatrugata, sakthigata, udargata, uragata, and prushthagata. The site where the integration of mamsa, sira, snayu, asthi and sandhi takes place is known as marma. These are further divided into sadya pranahara, kalantara pranahara, vishalyaghna, vaikalyakara and rujakara marma. Amsa marma is a type of prushthagata marma anatomically and vaikalyakara marma according to viddha lakshana. An injury to amsa marma causes stabdhabahuta, in which the shoulder joint gets affected and restricts arm movement. These symptoms are similar to that of avabahuka. So frozen shoulder is a painful condition of unknown cause with loss of motion of the shoulder and arm. As it is a prevalent musculoskeletal disorder, the study of amsa marma is done regarding frozen shoulder conceptually to rule out the anatomical structure affecting, and it will be helpful to find effective treatment such as marma chikitsa while treating frozen shoulder.