cupping. Conclusion: Two weeks of cupping therapy and an exercise program may be effective in reducing pain and improving neck function in VDT workers

Work involving video display terminals (VDTs) is very common in modern society. VDT work has accompanied the sharp increase in the use of personal computers for work in the last several decades. According to a national survey of the Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japanese laborers who engaged in VDT-related work comprised only 15.3% of all the working population in 1998, but after 10 years, that fraction increased to 79.2%. German census data from 2004 suggested that twenty-one million people, comprising 59% of all hired workers, were engaged in computer-related work during daily life. Along with the rapid changes of working environments into VDT stations, various symptoms related to VDT use have been increasingly reported. Sixtythree per cent of office workers have been suggested to have musculoskeletal symptoms, and 42% of them might suffer head and neck pain. Thirtysix per cent of VDT workers have the symptoms of dry eye syndrome or were diagnosed with the problem. In addition, eye symptoms such as asthenopia, pain and fatigue are suffered by many workers . Recent systematic reviews (SRs) suggest that there is evidence that tension neck syndromes of VDT workers are strongly related to the use of computers. To prevent or treat these symptoms in VDT workers, Abstract: Cupping for Treating Neck Pain in Video Display Terminal (VDT) Users: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial: Tae-Hun KIM, et al. Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, South Korea—Objectives: This was a randomized controlled pilot trial to evaluate the effectiveness of cupping therapy for neck pain in video display terminal (VDT) workers. Methods: Forty VDT workers with moderate to severe neck pain were recruited from May, 2011 to February, 2012. Participants were randomly allocated into one of the two interventions: 6 sessions of wet and dry cupping or heating pad application. The participants were offered an exercise program to perform during the participation period. A 0 to 100 numeric rating scale (NRS) for neck pain, measure yourself medical outcome profile 2 score (MYMOP2 score), cervical spine range of motion (Cspine ROM), neck disability index (NDI), the EuroQol health index (EQ-5D), short form stress response inventory (SRI-SF) and fatigue severity scale (FSS) were assessed at several points during a 7-week period. Results: Compared with a heating pad, cupping was more effective in improving pain (adjusted NRS difference: −1.29 [95% CI −1.61, −0.97] at 3 weeks (p=0.025) and −1.16 [−1.48, −0.84] at 7 weeks (p=0.005)), neck function (adjusted NDI difference: −0.79 [−1.11, −0.47] at 3 (p=0.0039) and 7 weeks (p<0.0001)) and discomfort (adjusted MYMOP2 difference score: −0.72 [−1.04 to −0.40] at 3 weeks and −0.92 [−1.24, −0.60] at 7 weeks). Significant improvement in EQ-5D was observed at 7 weeks (1.0 [0.88, 1.0] with cupping and 0.91 [0.86, 0.91] with heating pad treatment, p=0.0054). Four participants reported mild adverse events of Cupping for Treating Neck Pain in Video Display Terminal (VDT) Users: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial