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O 

 

      ISSN : 2693 6356 

    2018 | Vol 1 | Issue 3 

       

Osteoarthritis Pain Reduction with     

Ajamodadi Vati (An Ayurvedic Formulation) 
Totar 1, Shakuntala, Shiva Rama Prasad Kethamakka 

 

 

Abstract 

Background: Formerly known as degenerative joint disease, osteoarthritis (Sandhigata Vata) is now 
classified as a disease of the Vata humor in Ayurveda. Vata, Kapha, and Sleshmadhara Kala (the 
joint mucous membrane) are the key Doshas (humors) involved in the pathophysiology of age-
related degenerative joint disease. Sandhigata Vata Ajamodadi Vati (an Ayurvedic preparation) will 
be studied for its analgesic effects. Substances and Techniques: Thirty patients who met the study's 
requirements participated for a total of 30 days. In the experiment, the medication was given at a 
daily dosage of 3 grams. The findings revealed that the trial medicine was statistically significant in 
reducing the complaints measured by both subjective and objective indicators (with the exception of 
swelling). The trial medicine Ajamodadi Vati showed excellent analgesic impact against 
osteoarthritis pain, the results revealed. 

 

Keywords: Osteoarthritis, Ajamodadi Vati, Sandhigata Vata, and Analgesic Effect 

Introduction 

 

steoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent 
musculoskeletal disorder in the world (30%) 
after back pain  ( 50 %). The reported 

prevalence of osteoarthritis in rural India is (5.78%). 
Among 80% of world population the prevalence is 
usually seen in the age group of 60-65 yrs with some 
radiological evidences[1,2]. It is the most common form 
of joint disorder amongst the elderly and obese 
persons which is a major cause of morbidity and 
chronic disability as well as burden on health care 
resources especially for the elderly. This disease keeps 
an insidious attack, which runs for many years 
causing the loss of function as well as deformity of the 
joints. Elderly osteoarthritis is the leading cause of 
chronic disability and some 1,00,000 people in the 
United States are unable to walk independently from 
bed to bathroom because of OA[3]. 

 

In Ayurveda the condition is equated to Sandhivata or 
Sandhigata Vata. Even though Sandhigata Vata is not 
mentioned in Vedic literature, Acharya Charaka, 

Madhavakara, etc. have dealt this condition under the 
context of Vata Vyadhi. Sandhigata Vata is also 

commonly called as Sandhivata . 

 
Medicine, a large number of people suffer from OA 
all over the world without a permanent relief from 
this disease. It is said that current treatment for 
osteoarthritis is purely based on control of 
symptoms because there is no disease modifying 
osteoarthritis drug yet. Intra-articular steroids are 
widely used, even though they provide marked 
relief from symptoms but they loose their effect 
within weeks to months. 

 

Ayurveda opines that Vyadhi (disease) is a condition 
in which body suffers from pain. Hence it is 
believed that reliving the pain is the main 
treatment to state 

 

 



 

 

that the disease is subsided. It is clear to state that 
Vedana (pain) and Shotha (swelling) are the main 
features of Sandhigata Vata, wherein Vedanahara and 
Shothahara are the drugs of choices. Ajamodadi Vati is 
i n d i c a t e d f o r t h e Sandhivata  b y Acharya 
Yogaratnakara. Out of the composition of the drug 
Sunthi, Vruddhadaru and Ajamoda are known 
analgesics. Thus in this study an effort is being made 

Ajamodadi Vati as Lakshanika 
Chikitsa (symptomatic management) in Sandhigata 
Vata especially in reliving pain. 

Materials & Methods: 
In the present study the investigators objective was to 
study the  of trial drug as determined by 

 the difference between the baseline data of 
the parameters to the after treatment data. 

a) Study Design: Preliminary open clinical study 

b) Source of data, Sample Size and Grouping: 
Patients suffering from osteoarthritis were selected 
from Dept. of K.C., P.G.S. & R. C., OPD, of Shree 
D.G.M.A.M.C. & H. Gadag, Karnataka. 30 patients in 
a single group. 

e) Duration of Study : 30 days 

f) Selection Criteria: 
Exclusion criteria: 

 Patients below 30 years and above 70 year of age 
 Pregnant woman & lactating mother. 
 Associated with simple or compound fractures. 
 Associated with any other systemic or metabolic 

disorders. 
 Patient on steroid therapy 

 Patient under gone surgery 

Inclusion criteria: 
 Patients suffering from the  symptoms  of 

Sandhivata (Osteoarthritis) of one year 
 Patients of either gender aged between 30-70 years 

are included-as the condition is commonly found 
in the either sex, but not  to the old age. 

g) Parameters: 

Subjective Parameters: 

1) Prasarana Akunchana Pravruti Vedana 
(Pain during  and extension of joints) 

Grade 0 – No Complaints 
Grade 1 – Tells on Enquiry 

c) Trial   drug: Ajamodadi Vati [4] containing 10 
ingredients (table-1). 

Grade 2 – Complains Frequently 
Grade 3 – Excruciating Condition 

Table 1: Depicting the ingredients of Ajamodadi Vati 
 

SNo Sanskrit Name Latin Name Quantity 

1 Ajamoda Apium 1 Tola 

  leptophyllum  

2 Pippali Piper longum 1 Tola 

3 Velam Embelica rebes 1 Tola 

 
4 

(Vayuvidanga) 

Shatapushpa 

 
Foeniculum 

 
1 Tola 

  vulgare  

5 Chitrakamoola Plumbago 

zeylanica 

1 Tola 

6 Shunti Zingiber officinale 1 Tola 

7 Haritaki Terminalia chebula 1 Tola 

8 Vrudhadaruk Ipoemia petalodea 1 Tola 

9 Saindhava Rock salt 1 Tola 

 Lavana   

10 Guda Jaggery Q.S. 

d) Dose: 3 gms/24 hrs in divided doses (1 gm TDS) 

2) Sandhi Graha (stiffness) 
Grade 0 – Absent 
Grade 1 – Present 

 

3) Sparsha Akshamatva (pain by touch) 
Grade   0   –   No   Complaints 
Grade 1 – Says the joint is tender 
Grade 2 – Winces the affected joint 
Grade3 – Winces and withdraws the 

affected joint 

4) Shotha                       (Swelling) 
Grade 0 –   No   Complaints 
Grade 1 – Slightly obvious 
Grade 2 - Covers well over the bony 

prominence 
Grade 3 - Much elevated 

 

5) Vatapoorana Druti Sparsha (Bursitis) 
Grade     0     –      No      Bursitis 
Grade 1 – Minimum Bursitis observed 
Grade 2 - Moderate Bursitis observed 
Grade 3 - Prominent Bursitis observed 



 

 

Objective Parameters 

1) Joint pain: grading was based upon the moderate 
universal pain assessment tool which is a visual 
analogue scale to assess pain in patients. 

 

2) Pain assessment through standardized Mc Gill's 
questionnaire 

3) Swelling: was measured with a tape and graded 

4) Walking time: to cover 21 meters was recorded and 
grades. 

Grade 0 – Up to 20 seconds 
Grade 1 – 21-30 seconds 
Grade 2 - 31-40 seconds 
Grade 3 – 41-50 seconds 
Grade 4 – 51-60 seconds 

 

I) Ethical Clearance: was obtained from Institutional 
Ethics Committee after which the study was started. 

Results: 
A total number of 170 patients were scrutinized at 

Table 2 : Evaluation of Pain 
Complaints % of patients 

effected 

Sandhi Shotha 96.66 
Prasarana Akunchana Vedana 100 
Sandhi Graham 93.33 
Sparsha Akshamatwa 80 

Nature of Pain 
Pricking 10 
Aching 43.33 

Generalized 46.66 
 

 
The joints involved in the majority of patients were 
Knee joint (70%), interphalangeal joints (46.6%), 
Ankle (26.66%), Lumbar Spine (16.66%), Cervical and 
Axial (6.66%). 

C) Assessment of the effect 
Post treatment the trial drug showed 55.44% relief in 
pain due to Prasarana & Akunchana, 23.25% relief in 
Sandhi Graha, 43.08% relief in Sparsha Akshamatwa and 

38.57 % relief in Sandhi Shotha (Table 3). 

Table 3: Effect of trial drug on Pain 
 

 

OPD level and 30 patients were enrolled for the study 
randomly. All the 30 patients completed the 
stipulated duration of 30 days and no dropouts were 

 
Parameter 
Prasarana 

Mean 
Score 
BT 

Mean 
Score 
AT 

Mean 
Difference 

% 
Improvement 

reported. 

a) Gender and Age 
 

the gender because the prevalence of Sandhigata Vata 
is common in both males and females, but females 
may be more prone to osteoporosis in post 

Akunchana 
Vedana 
Sandhi 
Graham 
Sparsha 
Akshamatwa 

1.93 0.86 1.07 55.44 

 
0.86 0.66 0.2 23.25 

1.23 0.7 0.53 43.08 

menopausal period. Conceptually age certainly has 
effect because as the age advances there is Kapha 
Kshaya (Decrease of humor Kapha) and Vata Vruddhi 
(Increase in humor Vata). Patients aged 50-60 years 
dominated the study. However an early onset of the 
disease was also noted in the age group of 30-40 years. 
The effect of drug on gender revealed that 7 out of 12 
males and 9 out of 18 females had moderate response. 

b) Evaluation of pain data 
Among 30 patients all of them reported with pain of 
variable intensity. 100% of patient experienced pain 
during  & extension of the affected joint, 
96.67% of them had joint swelling, 93% of them had 
stiffness which restricted their activities and nearly 
80% patients reported pain by touch (Table 2). 46.66% 
of patients experienced generalized pain. 43.33% of 
patients were noted by aching type of pain and 10% of 
people with burning type of pain (Table 2). 

The trial drug Ajamodadi Vati showed statistically 
 result in alleviating Vatapurna Driti 

Sparsha, Sandhi Shota (Subjectively) and Joint Pain. 
Walking time also improved  with 
improvement in MC Gills Pain assessment 
questionnaire.  However Swelling evaluated 
objectively by measuring did not show any signi  
difference statistically (Table 4). 

Discussion 
Sandhigata Vata even though is explained as one of the 
derivatives of Vata there is no  Nidana 
(etiology) explained and is most of the time related to 
ageing. There is an intimate relation between Vata and 
Kapha in Sandhigata Vata. Restoration of Vata to its 
normal state helps in the management of Sandhigata 
Vata. 



J. Res. Trad. Medicine | Jan-Feb 2016 | Volume 2 | Issue 1 
 

 

Table 3: Statistical assessment on effect of trial drug on Subjective & Objective Parameter 

Sl Parameter Mean Mean % of SD SEM t value P Value Significance 

no BT AT Improv 
ement 

 

1 Vataporna Driti 1.033 0.466 54.88 0.568 0.103 5.504 <0.001 HS 

2 
Sparsha 
Sandhi Shota 1.4 0.9 35.71 0.572 0.104 4.807 <0.001 HS 

3 Joint pain 7.766 2.1 73.50 1.268 0.231 24.502 <0.001 HS 

4 Swelling 309.53 309.06 05.25 9.722 1.775 00.262 <0.40 NS 
5 Walking time 2.633 1.566 40.52 0.365 0.066 16.16 <0.001 HS 
6 MC Gills Pain 13.10 

Questionnaire 
09.16 30.00 1.874 0.0003 13.13 <0.001 HS 

 

In present study maximum numbers of patients 
belonged to age group of 50-60 years, which is 

Vata predominance and 
the symptoms of joint pain is being age related. The 
combination Ajamodadi Vati is said to be possessing 
Vedanahara (analgesics) effect by virtue of its 
pharmaco-dynamic properties [5]. The main Dosha in 
Sandhivata is Vata, with degeneration of joints being 
one of the components. The combination of the trial 
drug not only acts as a pain reliever but also acts on 
Ama (Biological waste) with its Deepana (carminative) 
and Pachana (digestive) properties [5] . Ajamodadi Vati 

2. Anthony D. Woolfet, et al. Burden of major 
musculoskeletal conditions. Bulletin of the 
World Health Organization. 2003, 81 (9):646- 
656 

3. R. D. Altman. Three-  
of acetaminophen extended-release for 
osteoarthritis pain of the hip or knee: a 
randomized,  double-  blind, placebo- 
controlled study. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage. 
2007, 15:454-461 

4. Vaidya Lakshmipati Sastri, editor.    Yoga 
Ratnakar with Vidyotini Hindi commentary, 

with its ingredients express anti-  and Kashi   Sanskrit Series 160,   6th    ed. Varanasi; 
analgesic action by regulating the Shleshmadhara Kala 
Shotha  
joints). 

Conclusion 
The results of the preliminary pilot study suggest that 
the trial drug when used in Sandhigata Vata produces a 

Vedhanahara (Analgesic) effect by virtue of 
the pharmaco-dynamic properties possessed by its 
ingredients. However a clinical study with larger 
sample size and for longer duration may be helpful in 
understanding the exact mode of the action. The 

 
also be assessed to know its  

References: 
1. Aksel Schreiner. Text book of Maritime 

Medicine. [Internet]. 2nd ed. Norwegian 
Centre for Maritime Medicine, Bergen; 2013. 
[Cited on 21-10-15]. Available from: 
http://textbook.ncmm.no/index.php/text 
book-of-maritime medicine/31-textbook-of- 
maritime medicine/29-soft-tissue-and-joint- 
injury/732-291- introduction 

Chaukhambha Sanstan; 1997, p.542-543. 
5. J L N Shastry. Dravyaguna Vigyana Vol- II. 2nd 

ed. Varanasi; Chaukambha Orientalia; 2004, 
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http://textbook.ncmm.no/index.php/text

