A female singer in Thailand who received neck-twisting massages suffered from full-body paralysis and eventually passed away.
According to reports from the Bangkok Post and Thai PBS on the 9th (local time), Chayada Prahom, a traditional Thai singer, died in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Udon Thani province, northeastern Thailand, around 6 a.m. the previous day. The cause of death was blood infection and cerebral edema.
She started visiting a massage shop in Udon Thani for back pain relief after a performance on October 5th. Over the course of about a month, she received massages three times at the same shop.
The first two sessions were with the same therapist and included neck-twisting massages. After these sessions, she began experiencing severe body pain and stiffness, unable even to turn over in bed.
During her third visit, she was treated by another therapist with strong hands, resulting in swelling and bruising all over her body. The pain intensified, requiring painkillers, and the paralysis spread to her chest, abdomen, and legs.
Eventually, her numbness grew so severe that she was unable to lift her arms or move her legs and became bedridden. She could not use about half of her body and ultimately died in the hospital in pain.
Local health authorities plan to verify whether the massage shop followed the standards of traditional Thai massage correctly and whether it was properly licensed.
Professor Thiravat Hemachudha from Rangsit University’s College of Oriental Medicine warned that violently twisting the neck to relieve muscles or tension can damage the carotid or vertebral arteries.
He cited a report by 177 American neurologists that studied 55 patients aged 21 to 60 who developed paralysis after neck treatments. Professor Thiravat stated, “Intense neck twisting can place excessive stress on the blood vessels, potentially causing clots in the veins that supply blood to the brain.”