Title : Efficacy of therapeutic massage in neck pain - before and after uncontrolled clinical trial
Abstract:
Introduction: Neck pain (NP) is a frequent musculoskeletal problem with an age-standardized prevalence rate of 27 per 1000 people (2019). It presupposes somatic, psychological, and social aspects of a person’s life. Its lifetime prevalence varies from 26% to 71%, with a high rate in females, the elderly, certain professions, cold regions or weather, etc. This research estimated an incidence of 35% of cases of neck pain in Bangalore and a median age of 27 years, ranging between 18 and 52 years. According to the Unani concept, factors external or internal that cause sue-mizaj-barid to the neck are the main reason for this ailment. It affects quality of life by producing significant disability by restricting neck movements. Nowadays, prevention, effective treatment, and rehabilitative measures for pain are matters of concern for this purpose. In this study, the effectiveness of the classical popular regimen of Unani Medicine, i.e., therapeutic massage (dalk) with herbal oil dill seed oil/ roghane shibbat, in halting the progression and reducing the pain was tested.
Material and Methods: The trial was done at the Regimenal Therapy Unit (RTU) of NIUM Hospital, Bangalore, from January 2011 to May 2012 and included 50 patients with their consent for a duration of 3 months. Massage (20 minutes) with Dill Seed Oil (20 ml) was done alternately on the neck in the first week and twice a week for the rest of the 12 weeks. During and after the course of treatment, improvements in both subjective and objective indicators were evaluated.
Result: Three parameters—NP, neck stiffness (NS), and restricted neck movement (RNM)—were taken. Pain assessed by the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) grading from 0–7, neck stiffness (NS), and RNM were graded arbitrarily from 1-4 according to severity. At baseline, the average length of NP, VAS score, NS, and RNM grade were 2.5 years, 5.8 (=6), 3.14 (≈3), and 1.94 (≈2), respectively; they were fully relieved in an average of 9.32 (≈9) sittings, with no patient experiencing a recurrence during follow-up.
Conclusion and Interpretation: Results revealed advantage of massage with therapeutic oil and found highly significant both statistically (p<0.0005) and clinically in relieving pain and their associated symptoms suggesting that therapeutic massage with the mentioned oil is safe and quite helpful in reducing the neck pain.
Audience Take Away Notes:
- Non drug management for Neck pain.
- Therapeutic massage and their efficacy in treating Neck pain.
- Effectiveness of herbal oil (dill seed oil) in halting the progression of neck pain.
