Effect of vatakarma kapalbhati on sinus headache

Abstract

Sinusitis is a common inflammatory condition affecting paranasal sinuses encountered by people of all age groups. Vatakarma Kapalbhati is a yogic cleansing technique and pranayama found to be beneficial in sinus headaches. We reported the effect of Vatakarma Kapalbhati on three individual cases with sinus headaches. Three women who had chronic headaches due to paranasal sinusitis were given Vatakarma Kapalbhati as an intervention. Outcome measures such as Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Sinonasal Outcome Test-22 (SNOT-22), Headache Impact Test-6 (HIT-6), and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) were used to assess the efficacy of the intervention. Significant improvement in PSQI, SNOT-22, HIT-6, and VAS was found postintervention when compared to the baseline. Vatakarma Kapalbhati could be a potential supportive therapy for the management of sinusitis headaches alongside conventional management.

Keywords

• headache
• kapalbhati pranayama
• pranayama
• sinus headache
• sinusitis
• yoga