Promising evidence on the therapeutic benefits of wet cupping for musculoskeletal pain

In many countries, wet cupping is a widely used traditional therapy for many conditions, including low back pain, neck pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and brachialgia. Researchers in Saudi Arabia and Singapore found promising evidence on the safety and efficacy of this traditional therapy through a systematic review.

• In the review, which was published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, the researchers evaluated the available evidence of wet cupping in traditional and complementary medicine.
• The 14 studies included in the review were randomized clinical trials that evaluated wet cupping against any type of control interventions in patients with any clinical condition and healthy individuals.
• Nine trials favored wet cupping over various control interventions in nonspecific low back pain, hypertension, brachialgia, chronic neck pain, oxygen saturation in smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and oral and genital ulcers due to Behçet disease.
• Five trials showed that wet cupping did not cause any effect on nonspecific low back pain, hypertension, brachialgia, migraine headaches, and physiologic and biochemical parameters of healthy individuals.

With these findings, the researchers concluded that wet cupping is a promising treatment for musculoskeletal pain, particularly nonspecific back pain, neck pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and brachialgia.

To read more studies on other alternative treatments like wet cupping, visit AlternativeMedicine.news.

Journal Reference:

Al Bedah AMN, Khalil MKM, Posadzki P, Sohaibani I, Aboushanab TS, AlQaed M, Ali GIM. EVALUATION OF WET CUPPING THERAPY: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIALS. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 1 October 2016; 22 (10): 768-777. DOI: 10.1089/acm.2016.0193