Procedures
This study employed quasi-experimental design which was conducted at the Center of Applied Thai Traditional Medicine of Suan Sunandha University. The patients received two 45-minute sessions of the court-type traditional Thai massage over a period of one week.
The patients satisfying the selection criteria were informed of the research objective, the preparation and self-care requirements, and the risks and side effects involved. Those agreeing to participate in the research signed a consent form before completing a questionnaire with their personal information and headache symptoms, the stress self-assessment.
Before each treatment, the patients were assessed in terms of the intensity of their headache using the visual analog scale (VAS) as well as their cervical range of motion (CROM) using a tape measure. After that, they were treated with the court-type traditional Thai massage performed by the present author, a licensed applied Thai traditional medical practitioner.
Each therapy involved using the palms and fingers to press along the massage line and was comprised of seven steps lasting 45 minutes as follows:
1. Both sides of the shoulders (15 minutes) (Figure 1)
2. Both sides of the upper back (5 minutes)
3. Both sides of the trapezius and splenius muscle (10 minutes) (Figure 2)
4. Both sides of the clavicle bone muscle (3 minutes)
5. Pressure points 1-5 along the back of the head (5 minutes)
6. The middle of head (2 minutes)
7. Pressure points 1-5 along the front of the head (5 minutes)
After each treatment, the patients were assessed again in terms of the intensity of their headache and their cervical range of motion [8-10].