# Śirodhārā > Śirodhārā is a Kerala procedure in which a warm liquid, usually a medicated oil but sometimes buttermilk or milk, is poured in a continuous stream onto the forehead for roughly half an hour. A trained therapist does it to you in a treatment room; it is not a solo procedure. ## Key facts - **Sanskrit name:** Śirodhārā ## What it is Śirodhārā is an external procedure (kriyā-bāhya) in which a warm liquid is poured in a continuous stream onto the forehead. The name is literally śiras, head, plus dhārā, stream. The source record classifies it as supervised: it is done to a person by someone trained, using a suspended vessel and a steady controlled flow. ## Where it comes from in the classical literature Aṣṭāṅga Hṛdaya, Sūtrasthāna 22, sets out four forms of murdha taila, oil applied to the head: abhyaṅga (smearing and mild massage), seka or pariṣeka (pouring oil in a continuous stream), picu (an oil-soaked cloth kept on the scalp) and śiro-basti (oil held standing on the head inside a collar), each described as more potent than the one before it. Śirodhārā is the seka form. Vāgbhaṭa indicates pariṣeka in scalp ulceration, headache, burning sensation, wounds and suppuration of the scalp. The record also credits Sahasrayogam, the Kerala formulary, and an Aṣṭāṅga Hṛdaya commentary. The Aṣṭāṅga Hṛdaya reference is better placed in the main text at Sūtrasthāna 22 than in a commentary, and that is the citation used above. The Sahasrayogam attribution is widely repeated in secondary literature but could not be checked against the text itself in this session. Sahasrayogam is, however, where Kṣīrabalā Taila, one of the oils named below, is first recorded. ## What it involves The record describes a face and scalp abhyaṅga (mukha and śiro abhyaṅga) beforehand. Warm liquid is then poured continuously onto the forehead from a set height, given as about 10 cm, for 30 to 45 minutes. The liquid is caught below, reheated and recirculated through the session. Afterwards the person rests, the hair is washed with a herbal powder, and cold and wind are avoided for 4 to 6 hours. Figures vary between sources. One published clinical description gives a pouring height of 4 to 6 inches and a session of 45 to 60 minutes, so treat the record's numbers as one protocol among several rather than a fixed standard. ## What is used Three kinds of liquid: medicated taila, takra (buttermilk) as takra-dhārā, and kṣīra (milk) as kṣīra-dhārā. Secondary sources describe the choice as dosha-led, with sneha for vāta, kṣīra for pitta and takra for kapha presentations. The oils named in the record are Kṣīrabalā Taila, Bhṛṅgarāja Taila, Brāhmī Taila and Mahānārāyaṇa Taila. The record separately notes a spa version using plain sesame or coconut oil, with no medicated taila. ## What research has looked at Uebaba and colleagues (Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2008, volume 14, issue 10, pages 1189 to 1198) reported that after oil-dripping treatment, plasma noradrenaline and urinary serotonin excretion decreased significantly more than in the control condition, which the authors interpreted as a sympatholytic effect. That is one small study of physiological measures. It is not evidence about any disease. ## What to ask before booking Which liquid and which oil, and the reasoning for that choice in your case. Who will be pouring, and what their training is. How long the session runs and how many sessions are being proposed. What the aftercare is, given the record's own instructions to rest, wash the hair with a herbal powder and stay out of cold and wind for several hours afterwards. The record lists no adverse events and no red flags, which means none were recorded in it, not that none exist. --- Canonical version of this page: https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/practice/shirodhara/ Published by Age Ayurveda in the Nighantu. Educational reference only, not medical advice. Incorporates material from the Amidha Ayurveda Herb Database under CC BY 4.0.