The effectiveness of herbal poultices in reducing the pain in the tendons, wrists and fingers of Thai masseuses at the Sukhothai Thammathirat Thai Traditional Medical clinic in the Pak Kret district of Nonthaburi province

Abstract

Context:  An herbal poultice is the application of herbal medicines to treat an affected area.

Objective:  To study the effect of herbal poultices to reduce thumb pain of Thai masseuses.

Materials and Methods:  This research design was quasi-experimental.  32 Thai masseuse volunteers with pain in their thumbs offered samples.  The herbal poultice was applied every other day, 3 times a 1 week.  Samples were collected along with the volunteer’s data through interviews.  The Thai version of the Boston questionnaire (by Sittipong Upatham and Wiphu Kamnuddee from 2008) was used to assess the severity of symptoms and hand ability, as well as a thumb pain assessment scale (Visual Rating Scales: VRS).  The research was conducted through the human research ethics committee of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, in accordance with ethical considerations.  

Result:  The results indicated that the severity of the symptoms, difficulty in using hands to do activities and pain in the thumb was reduced with statistical significance, p < 0.001

Conclusions:  The results of this research can be used and expanded on as a practical guideline for the treatment of pain in the musculoskeletal system, tendons, wrists and fingers as well.

 Keywords:  Finger pain, Herbal poultice