Court-type Traditional Thai Massage and Hot Herbal Compress: Effectiveness in Relieving Early Postpartum Backache

ABSTRACT

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of the court-type Thai traditional massage and hot herbal compress in addition to the standard management for the relief of back pain during the early postpartum period (within 24 hours after having given birth).Methods: One hundred patients were randomly divided into two groups. The test group was treated with court-type Thai traditional massage and hot herbal compress for 60 minutes. The control group receivedonly standard postpartum management. Patients were asked to rate the intensity of their back pain using apain numeric rating scale before and after treatment.Results: Before receiving treatment, the pain intensity was equal among the two groups [5(5-6) and 5(5-6); p\>0.365]. When comparing the pain intensity after having received treatment, the difference between thegroups showed statistical significance: [4(3-4.25) and 5(3.75-5.25); p