การศกษาเปรยบเทยบประสทธผลทางคลนกของการพอกเขาสมนไพรและการพอกเขาสมนไพรรวมกบการกดจดเขาในผปวยโรคขอเขาเสอม

The treatment process according to the clinical practice guideline for managing osteoarthritis in traditional Thai medicine at the Thai Traditional Medicine Hospital, Prince of Songkla University, includes royal court massage therapy, herbal compresses, and supplementary treatments with acupressure and herbal poultices. This specific herbal poultice formulation has been used to treat patients with osteoarthritis at the Traditional Thai Medicine Hospital for a long time; alongside acupressure techniques that target knee pain according to traditional Thai massage knowledge. However, there has been no data collection or clinical studies on the treatment. Therefore, the researcher is interested in exploring treatment approaches for osteoarthritis in patients with the aim to study the clinical efficacy of herbal knee poultices and herbal knee poultices combined with acupressure, as well as to examine the irritation caused by the herbal poultice formulation. The study involved 72 patients with osteoarthritis, divided into two groups: one receiving herbal knee poultices (36 patients) and the other receiving herbal knee poultices combined with acupressure (36 patients). Both groups received treatment once daily for three consecutive days. The effectiveness was assessed before and after treatment using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) and specific physical examinations, including knee temperature, knee circumference, knee deflection, and range of motion. Additionally, the irritation of the herbal poultice formulation was evaluated according to the guidelines of the International Contact Dermatitis Research Group (ICDRG). The results showed that after treatment with either the herbal knee poultice or the combined herbal poultice and acupressure, there was a statistically significant reduction in pain levels, stiffness, and an increase in functional ability of the knee (p