Marma-Cikitsā (Marma-Point Therapy)
Marma-Cikitsā is hands-on stimulation of marma points, the 107 vital sites enumerated by Suśruta. The record describes acupressure-style pressure applied to these points, either combined with abhyaṅga oil massage or on its own. It is given by a trained practitioner, and the record supplies no oils, timings or frequency.
Given by a trained therapist. This is done to you by someone trained, normally in a clinic. It is described here so you know what a session involves and what to ask before booking, not as instructions to follow.
What it is
The record classes Marma-Cikitsā as kriyā-bāhya, an external procedure, and glosses it in English as marma-point therapy. Its two recorded steps are acupressure-style stimulation of the 107 marma points, applied either alongside abhyaṅga oil massage or as a standalone treatment.
Where the 107 comes from, and what the source actually says
The record cites Suśruta Saṃhitā, Śārīra Sthāna 6, and the number checks out. That chapter, properly titled Pratyeka-marma-nirdeśa Śārīram, enumerates exactly 107 marmas in five classes: 11 māṃsa-marma, 41 sirā-marma, 27 snāyu-marma, 8 asthi-marma and 20 sandhi-marma.
But the chapter’s purpose is worth being precise about, because it is not what a reader might assume from the therapy’s name. Suśruta defines marmas as places where veins, arteries, ligaments, joints and muscles unite, and where injury generally proves fatal. The chapter is surgical anatomy written to tell a surgeon where not to cut, with instructions such as making an incision a finger’s breadth away from the Ūrvī, Kūrca-śiras, Viṭapa, Kakṣā and Pārśva marmas. It is a map of what to avoid injuring.
So the citation is correct for the enumeration of the 107 points and for the concept of marma. It is not a source for a manual therapy applied to those points, and I found no such protocol in it. Anyone presenting Śārīra 6 as the classical basis for marma massage is stretching what that chapter contains. The record’s own subtitle for it, “Marma-vibhāga”, is also not the chapter’s title.
What it involves
The record gives two steps and no more: acupressure-style stimulation of the 107 marma points, and the note that it is combined with abhyaṅga or done standalone. There is no preparation, no aftercare, no session length, no course length, no frequency and no seasonal guidance in the record.
What is used
Nothing is named. The record’s oil, dravya and material fields are all empty, even though it mentions abhyaṅga, which is an oil procedure. If a practitioner uses an oil, that choice is theirs and is not documented here.
What to ask before booking
- what the practitioner’s training in marma work specifically is
- how much pressure is applied and how they judge it, given the classical framing of these sites as points of vulnerability
- whether any oil is used, and which
- what they say the treatment is for, and whether that claim matches what the classical source actually says
Cautions
- The record lists no adverse events, no red flags and no contraindications. That is missing data, not a safety finding.
- The classical chapter the record cites describes these 107 sites as places where injury is generally fatal, and instructs surgeons to work at a distance from several of them. That framing is worth holding in mind when a therapy proposes to press on them.
- The classical source does not support the therapy itself, only the anatomy it borrows. Claims that marma-point therapy is described in Suśruta Śārīra 6 overstate what that chapter contains.
- Marked 'supervised': done to a person by someone trained. This page describes the procedure and does not instruct in it.
- The source record is LLM-curated and unverified at source.
Classical source
Suśruta Saṃhitā, Śārīra Sthāna 6 (Pratyeka-marma-nirdeśa Śārīram) — not independently confirmed; treat the locus as approximate
Chapter identity verified and record corrected: Suśruta Śārīra 6 is Pratyeka-marma-nirdeśa Śārīram, not 'Marma-vibhāga' as the record has it, and it does enumerate 107 marmas in five classes. Marked unverified as a source for the procedure, however: the chapter presents marmas as vital spots a surgeon must avoid injuring, not as points for therapeutic stimulation, so it supports the anatomy the therapy borrows but not the therapy itself.
Common questions
- Are there really 107 marma points?
- Yes, in the source the record cites. Suśruta Śārīra Sthāna 6 enumerates 107 marmas across five classes: 11 māṃsa, 41 sirā, 27 snāyu, 8 asthi and 20 sandhi. The record repeats that figure.
- Is marma therapy the same as acupressure?
- The record describes the technique as 'acupressure-style stimulation', which is a comparison rather than an identification, and it comes from the record rather than from any classical text. The classical material behind marma is anatomical: a map of vital junctions, written for surgeons.
- Does it involve oil?
- It can. The record says the stimulation is either combined with abhyaṅga, which is oil massage, or given standalone. It names no specific oil, so ask the practitioner what they use if oil is involved.
Reviewed by Dr. Awadesh Pratap Singh, BAMS, on 18 September 2026. What that review covered.
Consult a qualified vaidya before acting on anything here. Ayurvedic practice is prescribed to a person, not to a condition: the same procedure is given, modified or withheld depending on your constitution, your agni, the season and what else you are already doing. A page cannot know any of that.