Ākārakara as Dermal Anaesthetic

Abstract

Nowadays, the role of local anaesthesia in the surgical field is highly appraisable. Local anaesthetics are the drugs that produce a loss of sensation over the localised areas without producing a loss of consciousness. Humans have been using various methods to block pain for thousands of years. Controlling pain during the śhastrakarma in śalyatantra has been always challenging. There has been the introduction of various methods of local anaesthetics since the origin of medical science, topical anaesthetics being one of them. Studies have been conducted to discover novel anaesthetic agents by various scholars. Herbal extracts do not stand far in the pathway of this search. Owing to these discoveries, 30% ethanolic extract gel of Ākārakara (Spilanthes calva DC.) is selected here as a topical anaesthetic to evaluate the efficacy in facilitating the management of warts by a painful procedure agnikarma. Keywords: Dermal anaesthetic, Ākārakara, Spilanthol