Background: Chronic tension-type headache (CTTH) is the most common type of headache. Although the
court-type traditional Thai massage has long been applied for treatment of CTTH, little empirical evidence
has been reported regarding its effectiveness. The present study aimed to examine the effects of the courttype
traditional Thai massage on CTTH patients.
Methods: The sample comprised of ten patients at the Center of Applied Thai Traditional Medicine of Suan
Sunandha University who had CTTH and were recruited based on the criteria set forth by the International
Headache Society (HIS). The patients received two 45-minute sessions of the court-type traditional Thai
massage over a period of one week. One week before and immediately after each treatment, the patients were
assessed using the visual analog scale of pain perception (VAS) and active cervical range of motion (CROM).
Results: The majority of the subjects was female and aged 50-65. The pre-treatment assessment showed
that on average, they suffered from CTTH 2.7 times per week with each lasting 3.2 hours and the severity
of their CTTH stood at 6.8 cm on the VAS. After the massage therapy, the level of severity on the VAS was
reduced significantly (VAS before 6.80±0.78 after 4.10±0.99: p < 0.05). In addition, the CROM was changed
increased in all movement directions (p 0.05).
Conclusions: The findings suggest that From the findings that the court-type traditional Thai massage may
be an effective treatment for CTTH. Therefore, further research along similar lines with a control group
should be conducted on a larger sample size.