New Trials Support the Effectiveness of Cupping
Therapy
by Dr Tamer Shaban
(NaturalNews) There are many published clinical
trials and scientific papers in 2009 about the effectiveness of cupping therapy.
Three papers from Germany, South Korea and Iran support the use of cupping
therapy and give new scientific evidence to this old therapy.
What is
cupping therapy?
Cupping therapy is one of the oldest natural healing
therapies in the world, and was a very popular therapy for more than 2500 years.
Cupping therapy was used by all civilizations around the world, including the
Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Chinese. It is one of the corner stones of
Traditional Chinese Medicine. There are many types of cupping therapy. Wet
cupping, herbal cupping, dry cupping and massage cupping are examples of cupping
therapy types.
Cupping therapy for carpal tunnel syndrome
The
first trial was a German study, published in the Journal of Pain in 2009.
The researchers investigated the effect of the cupping therapy as a treatment
for the carpal tunnel syndrome. There were 52 participants in this trial. The
patients were randomly assigned to either a treatment group or a control group.
The treatment group experienced pain relief and a decrease in other symptoms.
The researchers concluded that "Cupping therapy may be effective in relieving
the pain and other symptoms related to CTS (carpal tunnel
syndrome)."1.
Cupping therapy for pain
The second trial was a
South Korean study, published in the Journal of Complementary and Alternative
Medicine in 2009. The researchers searched 14 medical databases. Cupping
therapy trials investigating a pain condition were included. Trials
investigating unproven therapy or combining cupping with unproven therapy were
excluded. The researchers found seven randomized clinical trials that met the
previous inclusion criteria. The researchers concluded that "The results of our
systemic review provide some suggestive evidence for the effectiveness of
cupping in the management of pain conditions."2.
Cupping therapy for low
back pain
The third trial was an Iranian study, published in the
Complementary Medicine in Therapies Journal. The researchers investigated
the effectiveness of wet cupping therapy for the treatment of nonspecific low
back pain. The researchers concluded that "Wet-cupping is associated with
greater short- term clinical benefit than usual care. No adverse effects were
reported."3.
Conclusion
Cupping therapy is a good natural
treatment with a promising effect for many diseases. It is used successfully to
treat all types of pain. More randomized controlled trials are needed to assess
its effectiveness in other diseases. Please, consult a health care professional
before using any type of alternative or complementary medicine
therapies.
References
1.Andreas Michalsen, et al., Effects of
Traditional Cupping Therapy in Patients with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A
Randomized Controlled Trial,The Journal of Pain, ,June 2009, Vol. 10, No.
6, pp. 601-608.
2.Jong-In Kim , Myeong Soo Lee , Dong-Hyo Lee , Kate
Boddy , and Edzard Ernst -, Cupping for Treating Pain: A Systematic Review, eCAM
Advance Access published on May 7, 2009, DOI 10.1093/ecam/nep035.
3.K.
Farhadi, D. Schwebel, M. Saeb, M. Choubsaz, R. Mohammadi, A. Ahmadi, The
Effectiveness of Wet-cupping for Nonspecific Low Back Pain in Iran: A Randomized
Controlled Trial, Complementary Therapies in Medicine, Volume 17, Issue
1,pp. 9-15.
See more cupping therapy articles