A review on the therapeutic effects of Neti Kriya with special reference to Jala Neti

Neti kriya is an integral part of shatkarmas/the six cleansing techniques that form the most important aspect of hatha yoga. Neti helps in preventing and managing upper respiratory tract diseases. An attempt is being made to collate and review articles that highlight the therapeutic effects of neti kriya. Databases like PubMed (January 1980-April 2016), Scopus and Ayush Portal were searched. We used keywords like jala neti, neti kriya, neti combined with terms such as yoga, sinusitis, rhinitis, common cold, vision, snoring, nasopharyngeal carcinoma and mental health for the search. As only a few results were obtained, we reviewed relevant studies with saline nasal irrigation. Evidence emerging from this review suggests that neti offers manifold bene fits and relief from the antibiotic grip. Most studies support the role of neti in treating sinusitis, rhinosinusitis, allergic conditions and in improving vision. Jala neti has a signi ficant role in improving the presence of mind and intelligence. We identi fied that it can be applied in mitigating post irradiation rhinosinusitis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. However, randomized control trials must be conducted to substantiate the therapeutic ef ficacy of this simple cost-effective, non- pharmacological mode of treatment. (c) 2018 Transdisciplinary University, Bangalore and World Ayurveda Foundation. Publishing Services by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).