A Comparative Randomized Controlled Trial Study: The Effects of Shoulder Massage and Acupressure Point Massage on Upper Trapezius Muscle Pain Syndrome

ผลของการนวดแนวเส้นพื้นฐานและนวดจุดสัญญาณในผู้ป่วยที่มีอาการปวดพังผืดและกล้ามเนื้อทราพีเซียสส่วนบน

Abstract

          This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of shoulder massage and acupressure point massage on patients suffering from upper trapezius muscle pain syndrome with those receiving the standard treatment involving an application of Diclofenac Gel. Through purposive sampling, forty-five patients with upper trapezius muscle pain syndrome at Chorchongkho Thai Traditional Medicine clinic were selected as participants. They were randomized into three groups of fifteen patients, each group receiving either and application of Diclofenac Gel, a shoulder massage, or an acupressure point massage. The research was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of Bansomdejchaopraya Rajabhat University. The research instruments included Thai Royal massage, shoulder massage, and acupressure point massage. The participants were treated three times per week for one week. A goniometer was used to measure their range of motion, and an algometer was used to identify the degree of muscle tenderness. The pain scale of 0 to 10 was used to measure the pain before and after the treatment, and the difference between the two was found to be statistically significant at .05. The findings revealed that the shoulder massage and the acupressure point massage could relieve the pain and increase the pressure-pain threshold with a statistical importance of .05 when compared to the levels obtained from the application of Diclofenac Gel. This research indicates that basic shoulder massage and acupressure point massage can both help relieve pain and that Thai traditional massage was effective in pain relief and could be applied as an alternative non-pharmacological treatment for patients with myofascial pain syndrome or behavior related pain.