Cupping is used in
over 60 countries in the world to treat a broad spectrum of conditions such as
headaches, back & neck pain, musculoskeletal pain, infections, insect
bites, hypertension, respiratory conditions, mental disorder, skin disorders,
digestive problems, and infertility etc.
In a recent press
release, the NIH (Washington DC) referred to a 2015 systematic review and meta-analysis of
cupping that concluded, “cupping could be effective in treating the pain and
disability associated with chronic neck pain and chronic low-back pain in the
short term.” In a study of 70 patients suffering from tension and migraine
headaches, the application of wet-cupping improved 95 percent of the cases
reducing the severity of the headaches by an average of 66 percent, and the
patients experienced the equivalent of 12.6 fewer days of headache per month. Unquestionably,
those results indicate cupping is a very safe and powerful non-pharmacological
approach.
In 2010, Chinese
researchers performed a systematic review of cupping literature identifying
4,696 citations, paring down to 550 clinical studies, the majority of which
evaluated cupping therapy for pain conditions. The researchers
concluded that “most studies show potential benefit on pain conditions, herpes
zoster and other diseases. However, further rigorous designed trials in
relevant conditions are warranted to support their use in practice.” (Figure 1)
This same group of researchers evaluated eight RCT’s involving 651 patients on
wet-cupping therapy for the treatment of herpes zoster. The meta-analysis
found that the wet-cupping therapy was superior to western medication and
reduced the incidence of post-herpetic neuralgia.