International Journal of

ADVANCED AND APPLIED SCIENCES

EISSN: 2313-3724, Print ISSN: 2313-626X

Frequency: 12

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 Volume 12, Issue 11 (November 2025), Pages: 176-182

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 Original Research Paper

Efficacy of Plai oil massage for the management of neck and shoulder pain: A traditional Thai herbal approach

 Author(s): 

 Wannee Promdao, Saengsit Kritsadee *, Salinthip Kunsilarak

 Affiliation(s):

 Department of Applied Thai Traditional Medicine, College of Allied Health Sciences, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Samut Songkhram, Thailand

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 * Corresponding Author. 

   Corresponding author's ORCID profile:  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1141-5813

 Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2025.11.017

 Abstract

Neck and shoulder pain is a common musculoskeletal condition that restricts mobility and affects daily functioning. Although traditional Thai massage with herbal oils is widely practiced, scientific evidence on its effectiveness remains limited. This study examined the efficacy of Plai (Zingiber cassumunar) herbal massage oil in reducing neck and shoulder pain and improving cervical mobility. A two-group pretest–posttest design was conducted with 60 participants experiencing moderate pain, randomly assigned to either an intervention group receiving Plai oil massage for three consecutive days or a comparison group receiving standard health advice. Pain intensity (Numeric Rating Scale), cervical range of motion (ROM), and pressure pain threshold were assessed before and after treatment. Results showed that the intervention group had significant reductions in pain scores (p < 0.001), improved ROM, particularly in extension and right lateral flexion (p = 0.009 and p < 0.001), and increased pressure pain threshold (p < 0.001), whereas the comparison group showed no significant changes (p > 0.05). These findings indicate that Plai herbal massage oil is effective in relieving pain, enhancing mobility, and reducing muscle stiffness, supporting its role as a complementary therapy for musculoskeletal pain management.

 © 2025 The Authors. Published by IASE.

 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

 Keywords

 Neck pain, Shoulder pain, Herbal massage, Plai, Complementary therapy

 Article history

 Received 2 July 2025, Received in revised form 21 October 2025, Accepted 28 October 2025

 Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank the Department of Applied Thai Traditional Medicine, College of Allied Health Sciences, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, and the Thai Traditional and Integrative Medicine Hospital, Sahaweth Campus, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, for their support and collaboration in this research project. Their contributions and facilitation enabled the successful completion of the study. 

 Compliance with ethical standards

 Ethical considerations

The study received approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University (Approval No. COA No.1-008/2022). This study was also conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. All study participants gave their informed consent prior to data collection. Anonymity had been assured.

 Conflict of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

 Citation:

 Promdao W, Kritsadee S, and Kunsilarak S (2025). Efficacy of Plai oil massage for the management of neck and shoulder pain: A traditional Thai herbal approach. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 12(11): 176-182

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 Tables

  Table 1  Table 2  Table 3  Table 4 

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