A POP singer has died after experiencing a months-long neck pain from having a massage.
Ping Chayada, a 20-year-old, was paralyzed after receiving a series of neck-twisting massages starting on October 5 in Udon Thani, located northeast of Bangkok, Thailand.
She had become bedridden due to the treatment, which started to cause her unusual pain just two days later.
Chayada underwent three sessions after visiting a massage parlor due to a nagging neck and shoulder pain.
However, 48 hours later, she experienced pain in her neck, which she considered to be normal, and so she took medication for relief.
A week later, she started noticing numbness in her arm but returned to the parlor for another massage.
Two weeks later, her body began to stiffen up, and she was unable to lie down.
“The right side I realized was numb after the third round of massages. After another two weeks, I couldn’t lift my right arm.”
Ping Chayada
Chayada underwent a third massage, this time by a different masseuse.
Soon after, she started to feel a tingling sensation and itching in her fingers, as well as a numbness in her right leg.
On October 30, she finally went to a hospital for her neck pain, and she was given medication.
Chayada was hospitalized on November 6 and suffered severe leg and neck pain, which left her unable to move her limbs.
It was on this day that she took to her Facebook page, where she has 22,000 followers, revealing what had happened.
Chayada included an image of an x-ray showing the damage to her neck.
She wrote, “The first time I got a massage, my symptoms were normal.
“I went for another massage, the same therapist in the same room, this time twisting my neck.
“After two weeks, I started to have very, very tight pain to the point that I couldn’t lie on my back or stomach.
“I’ve been learning massage since I was a child. I really like massage.
“I thought it was just another side effect of the massage, this kind of body pain.”
She continued, “I went again. But this new person massaged hard, and it was swollen and bruised for a week.
“After that, I took medicine to relieve the symptoms all the time. I started to have an electric shock in my fingertips.
“The right side I realized was numb after the third round of massages.
“After another two weeks, I couldn’t lift my right arm.”
Chayada revealed that at this point, she was unable to use half of her body, as reported by NeedToKnow.
She added, “I want to leave this as a lesson for anyone who really likes massage.
“I will recover. I’m in so much pain. I want to work now. But now I’m just waiting for the right time.”
After being examined, it was found that she had suffered transverse myelitis, which is a neurological disorder caused by an inflamed spinal cord.
Chayada recovered after receiving more medication and was discharged on November 11.
But, on November 18, she was rushed to hospital after suffering more stiffness in her body and a seizure.
Chayada was transferred to an intensive care unit on November 22 and soon after slipped into a coma.
DOCTOR’S WARNING
Unfortunately, on December 8, Chayada passed away from Septicaemia, a severe infection that can be life-threatening when bacteria enters the bloodstream and spreads throughout the body, as explained by Johns Hopkins Medicine.
The provincial health chief has since stated that an autopsy is required to determine the facts that caused her death.
He also added that all seven masseuses who worked at the parlor were licensed.
Officials are currently looking into the massage parlor as there are concerns that the massage given to Chayada was not in line with the usual practices of traditional Thai massage.
Chayada had only recently debuted under a small music label in Thailand called Guitar Records.
Chantakan said that her daughter had always loved singing and dreamed of becoming a big star.
Professor Dr. Thiravat Hamachudha, an advisor to the College of Oriental Medicine at Rangsit University in Lak Hok, Thailand, warned about the dangers of neck-twisting massages.
If done wrong, the massages could increase the “risk of harm to the blood vessel walls that supply the brain, especially the back, tearing and causing brain tissue death, hemiplegia, paralysis,” Dr. Hamachudha told the Bangkok Post.
“The danger will increase in tandem with the force of the twisting, flicking, or circling one’s head,” he added.
“Repeating these activities for a long time will not only create problems for the nerves but also the blood vessels at the neck.”
Dr. Hamachudha said people with obesity or high blood pressure faced an increased risk of stroke-related paralysis.
