Clinical trials in which main treatment is cupping therapy

Abstract

Cupping therapy is an ancient medical treatment, for which it can be now said that it is an alternative medical treatment, the main goal of this therapy is an inflammation and pain relief, relaxation, well-being of the patients that are receiving the therapy and also as a form of deep-tissue massage of the patients treated with it. For this kind of therapy different type of cups are used. Most common cups that are used are: Glass cup, bamboo cup, earthenware cup, plastic cup, silicon cup. For usage of different cups, different methods for practicing the cupping therapy are used. Although, nowadays the usage of this therapy is increasing a lot, it dates from past years as a part of ancient Egyptian, middle eastern culture and also as a part of the Traditional Chinese Medicine. From known data, the Egyptians introduced this type of therapy to the Greek people and the Greeks used it as a treatment for almost every known and not known disease. In the Traditional Chinese Medicine, the cupping therapy is well connected with the usage of acupuncture, and the flowing of qi energy in the patient’s body. In the Islamic prophet the type of therapy that is used is known as Hijama. In the past times when different materials of cups were now used, the practitioners that were treating patients with this therapy were using some animal horns. There are two known types of cupping therapy: Dry cupping therapy and wet cupping therapy. In both of the types, the practitioners are putting flammable substance such as alcohol or some form of herbs which is put on fire. After the fires goes out the cup is putted on the surface that needs to be treated which leads to rise of the skin and redden as blood vessels are expanding. It is known that cupping therapy can be beneficial in blood disorders, high blood pressure, migraines, anxiety and depression, fertility problems, skin problems, rheumatic disease and many more conditions. So far there have not been organized a lot of clinical trials that will prove the efficacy of cupping therapy, however in most of the organized the results of the treatments are positive. In general, a lot more clinical trials should be organized so more information can be collected for this treatment.

Keywords: Cupping therapy, dry cupping, wet cupping, cups, Hijama, treatment