COMPARISON OF THE TREATMENT EFFECT ON MYOFASCIAL PAIN SYNDROME OF THE UPPER TRAPEZIUS MUSCLE BETWEEN ROYAL THAI TRADITIONAL MASSAGE AND ISCHEMIC COMPRESSION TECHNIQUE

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Royal Thai traditional massage (TTM) and ischemic compression (IC) technique in patients with myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) of the upper trapezius muscle, using the visual analog scale (VAS), the pressure pain threshold (PPT) and cervical range of motion (CROM). Twenty volunteers were randomly assigned to either the TTM group or the IC group. The results indicated that both groups showed a significant decrease on the VAS after 2 weeks of treatment (2.50±1.65, 2.70±1.89 score; p<0.05). PPT showed a significant increase after treatment in the TTM group (58.93±16.89 score; p<0.05). A significant difference in PPT between the groups was found after treatment (0.848 score, 95% Cl was 0.177 to 1.519; p=0.016). Improvement in CROM among the patients receiving TTM was significantly greater than in the IC group (p<0.05) in neck extension and neck rotation to the left and right. This study showed that the TTM could reduce pain, and could increase PPT and CROM, and the TTM yielded a better result when compared to the IC in MPS.
(Journal of Sports Science and Technology 2014;14(1): 155 -166)
KEYWORDS: Myofascial pain syndrome, Upper trapezius, Royal Thai traditional massage, Ischemic
compression technique