A folk singer died on Sunday, Dec. 8, after she visited a massage parlour in Thailand's Udon Thani province to relieve her shoulder ache last month.
As reported by the Straits Times, a singer identified as Ms Phing Chyada, died from a blood infection and brain swelling at about 6 am at a local hospital.
Chyada Went for a Massage to Ease Her Shoulder Pain
In the days leading up to her death, Chyada had complained about her symptoms getting progressively worse after receiving the massage, which included neck twisting, in November.
On Nov 6, Chyada posted on Facebook to share with her fans who were worried about her condition that she went to the same massage shop three times in about a month. On the first two visits she had been treated in the same room by the same masseuse, who gave her "a neck twist."
On the third visit she had been attended to by a new masseuse. Chyada said she only had a shoulder ache, which is why she went to the massage shop. However, two days after the first service, she started experiencing pain in the back of her head and took painkillers. A week later, she started feeling numbness in her arm.
Two weeks after the second service, she started to have so much pain and stiffness over her body that she was unable to turn over in bed. On her third visit she met a masseuse who had a "heavy hand" which left her with swelling and bruises over her body for a week. Even though she continued taking painkillers, she later experienced tingling in the fingers and felt both cold and hot at all times.
On Nov 18, the singer's condition again worsened. She suffered 50 percent body paralysis and could neither move nor help herself and stayed in bed at all times. The case came to light on Dec 8 when a Facebook page linked to Chyada posted a message that she had died.
Massaging the Neck Too Hard Can Damage Blood Vessels to the Brain or Spinal Cord
According to experts, the neck is considered a weak point as massaging it too hard could damage blood vessels to the brain or spinal cord and cause paralysis. Thai neurologist Thiravat Hemachudha said on Facebook that neck twisting or a massage on the cervical spine could trigger paralysis.
Some 177 neurologists in the US reported 55 patients aged 21 to 60 years developing paralysis due to cerebral infarction after receiving cervical spine adjustment, he said, before adding that one of his patients had developed paralysis on the right side of his body and was hospitalised for a month due to neck twisting three times a day.
Dr Thiravat stressed that neck twisting could affect people's vision and balance, saying that the severity of such symptoms depends on how hard or how often it is done. Persons with obesity or high blood pressure could be at risk of developing paralysis due to stroke, he added.
"The danger will increase in tandem with the force of the twisting, flicking or circling one's head. Repeating these activities for a long time will not only create problems for the nerves but also the blood vessels at the neck," Dr Thiravat said.
