The Effect of Cupping Therapy on Non-specific Neck Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Context: Neck pain is a very common symptom. Several clinical trial studies were conducted to evaluate the effects of cupping therapy on neck pain. The objective of this study was to assess the evidence for the effectiveness of cupping therapy as an intervention to conservative management of neck pain.Evidence Acquisition: We performed a systematic search in PubMed, Ovid, MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, web of science, and Iranian medical databases through March 2017 without time restrictions. All clinical trials done on non-specific neck pain, where at least one of the therapies assessed pertains to cupping therapy, were included the study. Outcomes were pain intensity (e.g., Visual Analogue Scale, VAS), disability (e.g., Neck Disability Index, NDI), quality of life on sp36 questionnaire, and other outcomes due to neck pain. A meta-analysis was performed to assess the effectiveness of cupping in managing neck pain.Results: Meta-analysis of 5 trials revealed significant differences in pain relief in favor of cupping therapy compared with the control group (VAS 100 cm, MD, -0.84 (-1.22, -0.46), I 2 = 54.7%). Furthermore, meta-analysis of 6 studies revealed that cupping therapy was clinically superior to the control group in patients with neck pain (SMD = -0.60 (-0.86, -0.35), I 2 = 16.4%). Assessment of quality of life using the SP36 questionnaire showed that cupping therapy increased the quality of life in patients with neck pain compared with the control group (SMD = -0.56 (-0.20, -0.92), I 2 = 51.4%). Conclusions:This study provides some evidence that cupping therapy may improve treatment of patients with neck pain.

Traditional Dry Cupping Therapy Versus Medroxyprogesterone Acetate in the Treatment of Idiopathic Menorrhagia: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…However, there is no documented study in this area. Due to the limitations and side effects of the drugs used in the management of AUB on one hand, and the simplicity, speed of impact, lack of severe side effects, not interacting with other therapies of dry cupping on the other hand, it is necessary to conduct a study to demonstrate the effectiveness of this treatment as a novel method (9)(10)(11)(12). The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of dry cupping on excessive menstrual blood loss in menorrhagia, with a well-validated menstrual pictogram compared to medroxyprogesterone acetate.…”

Efficacy of cupping therapy on pain outcomes: an evidence-mapping study

“…After removing duplicates and screening the titles and abstracts, there were 19 potentially eligible studies. We finally included 14 studies ( 22–35 ) after assessing for eligibility including five types of pain-related conditions. The study selection process is shown in Figure 1 .…”

“…Five studies ( 23 , 26 , 28 , 30 , 31 ) contained less than ten original studies, while twelve (85.7%) studies ( 23–30 , 32–35 ) had a combined total sample of over 500 participants. The majority of studies, eight (57.1%) in total ( 23 , 26 , 29–31 , 33–35 ), were conducted in China, followed by two ( 25 , 28 ) in Korea, and one each in Germany ( 24 ), Brazil ( 27 ), Australia ( 32 ), and Iran ( 22 ). The included studies investigated various conditions, including low back pain ( n = 4), neck pain ( n = 3), knee osteoarthritis ( n = 2), chronic back pain ( n = 1), migraine ( n = 1), chronic pain ( n = 1), pain-related conditions ( n = 1), musculoskeletal pain ( n = 1), and herpes zoster ( n = 1).…”

“…One high-quality study ( 24 ) and one moderate-quality study ( 26 ) were included. However, five studies ( 22 , 23 , 25 , 27 , 32 ) were rated as critically low quality, and seven studies ( 28–31 , 33–35 ) were rated as low quality. The primary reasons for these downgraded ratings were noted as the absence of registration and protocols (item 2), poor information regarding the source of funding for the original studies in the systematic review and meta-analysis (item 10), and an inadequate explanation of the risk of bias when discussing the results of the review (item 13).…”

The Effects of Wet Cupping in the Management of Neonatal Jaundice: A Case Series Observation

“…Wet cupping therapy can generally be described as a technique that uses in several medical conditions. The most important evidence for therapeutic benefit of cupping therapy is relief pain ( 7 ). Cupping therapy is effective to management of Iron overloud, dyspnea, and acne ( 6 ).…”