The potential pain-relieving effects of wet cupping therapy

Wet cupping therapy (WCT), a type of alternative medicine, is traditionally used to address the symptoms of various diseases. WCT is also used to treat pain syndromes. In a study published in the journal Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, researchers observed the efficacy of WCT when used to remedy neck and shoulder pain.

• For the pilot study, the team of scientists investigated the possible health benefits of wet cupping therapy on nonspecific neck and upper shoulder pain.
• The scientists analyzed data from 61 eligible volunteers. The study participants all had nonspecific neck and upper shoulder pain for at least three months.
• Pain scores, which were assessed using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), were recorded before and after wet cupping therapy was administered to the participants.
• Based on the results of the pilot study, the mean scores of neck pain in the study group were 7.02 before and 3.70 after cupping therapy.
• The researchers noted that the decrease of pain scores between the pre- and post-test results were statistically significant.

The researchers concluded that WCT does have potential therapeutic effect in nonspecific neck and upper shoulder pain. However, they also noted that future full-scale randomized controlled trials can be used to gather further proof of the effectiveness of this natural remedy.

You can read more articles about the benefits of wet cupping therapy and other natural remedies at Healing.news.

Journal Reference: 

Arslan M, Gokgoz N, Dane S. THE EFFECT OF TRADITIONAL WET CUPPING ON SHOULDER PAIN AND NECK PAIN: A PILOT STUDY. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice. 2016;23:30–33. DOI: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2016.02.003