✫ Shalakya tantra encompasses the treatment for the diseases affecting the body parts located above the neck.
✫ This branch of ayurveda deals with the causes, diagnosis and curative procedures of the diseases pertaining to organs of the head, above the shoulder – eyes, ears, lips, nose, throat, teeth, skull, central nervous system and brain.
✫ A special branch of the ashtang ayurvedic tree, the eight branches of ayurveda, shalakya tantra deals with prevention and treatment of diseases in and around the head.
✫ The word shalakya in sanskrit means a probe.
✫ Therefore, by shalakya tantra, it is meant that the treatment would be done using appropriate tools for ingesting medication to the affected parts of the body.
✫ The branch is also described as urdhwangchikitsa.
✫ Urdhwang means the body parts above the shoulder and chikitsa which signifies treatment.