Immediate effects of special massage technique from inferior angle of scapula to the lowest rib in neck pain patients

Abstract

Neck pain is one of common musculoskeletal problems that affects daily life and brings high cost of treatment. There are many treatments of physiotherapy methods that treat the lesion of pain directly which may sometimes cause more pain and other complications. Massage has been suggested to treat pain without touching the site of lesion. This may be explained by increased blood circulation and healing promotion to the affected tissue indirectly. This study aimed to investigate the immediate effects of special massage technique (Rungthip technique; RT technique) from inferior angle of scapula to the lowest rib in the patients with neck pain on pain and change in the degree of neck movement. Forty participants aged 18-25 years who experienced work-related neck pain were randomly allocated into 2 groups; control group and RT technique group. Outcome measures including the degree of neck movement and perceived neck pain were evaluated before and after the treatment by Cervical Range of Motion (CROM) device and Visual Analog Scale (VAS), respectively. Results reveal that after treatment, the experimental group had statistically significant reduction in neck pain (p < 0.001) and had increased degree of neck movement in flexion and extension (p < 0.001 and p < 0.05, respectively). While the control group tended to had increased pain and decreased degree of neck movements. The results between group show that improvement in perceived neck pain and the degree of neck flexion and extension in experimental group was significantly greater than control group (p < 0.001, p < 0.001 and p < 0.05, respectively). In conclusion, RT technique at level of inferior angle of scapula to the lowest rib could reduce neck pain and increase the degree of neck flexion and extension.