Abstract / Summary
Sports medicine is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and long-term management of sports-related conditions. Athletes are exposed to repetitive mechanical loading, high training volumes, psychological stress, fatigue and risk of acute and overuse injuries. Contemporary sports rehabilitation primarily uses exercise therapy, physiotherapy, load management, pharmacological interventions and, when indicated, surgical procedures. Ayurveda provides an additional traditional framework emphasizing prevention, individualized care, and restoration of functional capacity and maintenance of physical resilience. Panchakarma is a group of classical Ayurvedic therapeutic procedures traditionally employed for the management of aggravated Dosha under appropriate clinical circumstances. Selected procedures, particularly Snehana (Abhyanga etc.), Swedana and Basti, may have potential relevance to recovery, musculoskeletal health and rehabilitation when appropriately selected and integrated with contemporary sports medicine. Available literature suggests promising applications of Ayurvedic interventions in musculoskeletal disorders and rehabilitation; however, direct high-quality evidence involving competitive athletes remains limited. Recent research has begun to investigate Ayurvedic massage using objective sports-related outcomes such as flexibility, muscle stiffness and stretch tolerance¹. Therefore, Panchakarma should currently be considered a potential complementary approach rather than an established replacement for evidence-based sports medicine.