Thai Traditional Medicine

Hui Ruan et al. (2023) · Journal of integrative and complementary medicine

This randomized trial with 45 children explored whether a traditional Thai massage technique, taught to parents and delivered at home, could help regulate the nervous system and improve walking in kids with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Many children with ASD have an autonomic nervous system — the part of the body that controls automatic functions like heart rate — that runs a bit "on edge," and some also have subtle walking differences linked to how their brain plans movement. Forty-eight children ages 7-12 at a school in China were randomly assigned to either 8 weeks of Traditional Thai Massage, given by their own parents twice a week for 50 minutes after the parents were personally trained and certified, or to their normal school routine. Researchers used a fingertip sensor to measure heart rate variability (a sign of nervous system balance) and a wearable motion sensor to analyze each child's walking pattern, checking in right after the 8 weeks and again two months later. Children who received the massage showed clear signs of a calmer, better-balanced nervous system compared to the control group — measurements linked to the body's natural "rest and relax" response improved significantly, and this held up even two months after the massage program ended. Their walking also changed in one specific way: their stride length (how far each step covers) got noticeably longer, an improvement that also lasted through the two-month check-in. Other walking measures, like speed and step timing, didn't change significantly. These results suggest that a relatively simple, parent-led massage technique — no expensive equipment or professional therapist required — may help calm the nervous system and improve certain aspects of walking in children with autism, with some benefits lasting months later. Because there was no "pretend massage" comparison group, it's hard to know how much of the effect came from the specific Thai massage technique versus simply the comforting touch and extra parent attention involved. The study also included very few girls, reflecting how autism is diagnosed more often in boys, so it's unclear if the results apply equally to girls. Larger and longer studies would help confirm these promising early findings.

Peerapat Lertwiram et al. (2025) · PloS one

This cross-over randomized trial with 32 children and teenagers explored whether Traditional Thai Massage could help improve walking in kids with spastic cerebral palsy (CP), a lifelong condition affecting muscle control and movement. Physical therapy is the usual treatment, but it takes significant time and trained staff — resources that are often scarce, especially in rural areas — so researchers tested whether a hands-on Thai bodywork technique, based on centuries-old pressure-and-stretch methods along the body's energy lines, could work as well. Each participant tried both treatments in turn: 30-minute Thai massage sessions twice a week for 6 weeks, and standard physical therapy sessions (stretching, strengthening, and walking practice) three times a week for 6 weeks, with a 6-week break in between so the effects of one treatment wouldn't carry over into the next. To measure results precisely, researchers used a 3D motion-capture system (the same kind of technology used in movie special effects) to score each child's walking pattern, plus muscle sensors, a treadmill breathing test, and a pressure-sensing walkway. The Thai massage group ended up with noticeably better walking scores than the physical therapy group — a meaningful improvement close to the threshold doctors consider clinically important — and their thigh muscles showed more activity during walking. Neither treatment beat the other on muscle stiffness, foot pressure, or how much oxygen the children used while walking. No one had any injuries or complications from either treatment, and families stuck with the program well, completing over 80% of sessions. This is an encouraging early sign that a low-cost, low-tech massage approach rooted in traditional Thai medicine might help children with cerebral palsy walk better — potentially as well as, or even slightly better than, standard physical therapy over the same timeframe. However, this was a small study, more than 1 in 5 participants didn't complete every follow-up visit, and the physical therapy given may have been too brief to show its best possible results. Bigger studies are needed before Thai massage could be recommended as a routine treatment.

Rodsarin Yamprasert et al. (2020) · BMC complementary medicine and therapies

This randomized, double-blind, controlled trial with 80 adults (ages 18-70, about 70% female) compared ginger (Zingiber officinale) extract against loratadine, a standard non-drowsy antihistamine, for allergic rhinitis (AR) -- an immune reaction to airborne allergens that causes nasal itching, congestion, runny nose, and sneezing, affecting an estimated 400 million people worldwide. Ginger is a spice long used in Thai traditional medicine, and its active compounds 6-gingerol and 6-shogaol have shown anti-allergic activity in lab studies by blocking mast cells, the immune cells that release histamine during an allergic reaction. Antihistamines like loratadine work well but can cause drowsiness and dry mouth. Participants with moderate AR symptoms took either 500 mg of standardized ginger extract or 10 mg of loratadine daily, in identical-looking capsules, for 6 weeks. Researchers tracked nasal symptoms using the Total Nasal Symptom Score (TNSS, rating itching, runny nose, congestion, and sneezing on a 0-12 scale), objectively measured nasal airway size with acoustic rhinometry (a sound-wave-based nasal scan), and assessed quality of life with the 28-item Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RQLQ). Blood tests and blood pressure checks monitored safety at baseline, week 3, and week 6. Both treatments significantly reduced nasal symptom scores by week 6 (ginger: 7.48 to 3.42; loratadine: 7.38 to 4.11), with no statistically significant difference between them (p=0.276--meaning both worked about equally well). On the nasal airway scan, ginger significantly increased left-nostril airway volume compared to loratadine by week 6 (+0.094 cm3 vs -0.006 cm3, p=0.02--meaning ginger measurably relieved congestion where loratadine did not). Quality-of-life scores improved similarly in both groups across all seven RQLQ domains (p=0.660 at week 6). Side effects differed in kind more than in severity: ginger caused more digestive upset (eructation, or burping, in 72% vs 17% on loratadine), while loratadine caused more drowsiness (25% vs 3%), dizziness, and constipation. Neither treatment affected blood pressure or kidney function; loratadine modestly raised a liver enzyme (ALP) that ginger did not. These results suggest ginger extract works about as well as loratadine for relieving AR symptoms and improving quality of life, with a milder side-effect profile centered on digestion rather than sedation. The trial was short (6 weeks), single-site, and modestly sized (80 enrolled, 72 completing), so larger and longer studies are needed to confirm both the congestion benefit and long-term safety, including the loratadine-associated liver-enzyme signal seen here.