BACKGROUND Diabetes is known as one of the most common diseases in the world and its treatment is one of the most important healthcare issues. Consequently, different treatment methods of complementary medicine and recent medicine have been used by scientific communities to control and predict the disease. This article considered the effects of dry cupping and wet cupping, based on traditional ...

Cupping (Hijama in Arabic) is an ancient, holistic method for the treatment of a variety of diseases. Though the exact origin of cupping therapy is a matter of controversy, its use has been documented in early Egyptian and Chinese medical practices. Diverse human civilizations have contributed to the historical development and continuation of cupping therapy. This narrative review describes the...

BACKGROUND Since 1950, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) cupping therapy has been applied as a formal modality in hospitals throughout China and elsewhere in the world. Based on a previous systematic literature review of clinical studies on cupping therapy, this study presents a thorough review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the therapeutic effect of cupping therapy. METH...

BACKGROUND We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of two different forms of dry pulsatile cupping in patients with chronic low back pain (cLBP) compared to medication on demand only in a three-armed randomized trial. METHODS 110 cLBP patients were randomized to regular pulsatile cupping with 8 treatments plus paracetamol on demand (n = 37), minimal cupping with 8 treatments plus paracetamo...

The objective of this study was to assess the evidence for or against the effectiveness of cupping as a treatment option for pain. Fourteen databases were searched. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) testing cupping in patients with pain of any origin were considered. Trials using cupping with or without drawing blood were included, while trials comparing cupping with other treatments of unprove...

OBJECTIVES The aims of this study were to develop a sham cupping device and to validate its use as a placebo control for healthy volunteers. METHODS A sham cupping device was developed by establishing a small hole to reduce the negative pressure after suction such that inner pressure could not be maintained in the cup. We enrolled 34 healthy participants to evaluate the validity of the sham c...

BACKGROUND Though cupping therapy has been used in China for thousands of years, there has been no systematic summary of clinical research on it.This review is to evaluate the therapeutic effect of cupping therapy using evidence-based approach based on all available clinical studies. METHODS We included all clinical studies on cupping therapy for all kinds of diseases. We searched six electro...

A case is reported of skin pigmentation and associated anemia resulting from persistently repeated cupping therapies performed by an unqualified practitioner in South Korea. Almost 30 sessions of excessive cupping therapies with blood loss over two months yielded little benefit but led the patient to admit a hospital and receive blood transfusion for acquired iron deficiency anemia. Skin pigmen...