Effects of Royal Thai Traditional Massage Combined with Thai Yoga Exercise among Thai Patients with Office Syndrome

Abstract

Introduction: Given the increasing prevalence of office syndrome and the concerns about medicinal treatments or innovative treatments that are accessible, cost-effective, and safe over the long-term are necessary. A combination therapy, such as the Royal Thai Traditional Massage combined with Thai Yoga Exercise (RTTM – TYE), is introduced to treat people suffering from office syndrome in this study, and that would fill this research gap. The study aimed to examine the effects of RTTM-TYE on pain levels and neck range of motion (NROM) by comparing two treatment methods: RTTM-TYE and RTTM alone. Methods: A quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest research design was conducted on 60 participants diagnosed with office syndrome from the Thai traditional medicine clinic at Luangphopern Hospital in Nakhon Pathom province. Participants were assigned to two groups for a 2-week intervention period (3 sessions per week, totaling 6 sessions. While the control group of 30 received a 45-minute RTTM, the experimental group of 30 received RTTM the same as the control group and followed by a 30-minute TYE per session. Pain intensity was assessed using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and neck range of motion (NROM) was measured using a goniometer for precision in four directions: flexion, extension, and bilateral flexion. Data on pain levels and NROM were measured before and after treatments. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. Results: When comparing pre-post treatment, within the group of both the experimental and control groups, the findings indicated that pain levels and NROM of post-treatment were better than those of pre-treatment at the significant level of 0.05. The comparison between groups suggested that the experimental group demonstrated significantly lower pain levels and increased NROM for all positions than the control group at the significant level of 0.05. Conclusions: Participants in the experimental group experienced better improvement in pain levels and neck mobility than those in the control group. This research suggests that using RTTM with TYE should be promoted as the combined treatment can reduce pain and increase neck movement more than RTTM alone.