• Huijuan Cao, Hui Hu, Ben Colagiuri, and Jianping Liu.
• Center for Evidence-Based Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
• Forsch Komplementmed. 2011 Jan 1; 18 (3): 122-6.

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic effect of traditional medicinal cupping for treatment of fibromyalgia.MethodsA prospective case series was conducted in 30 consecutive patients with fibromyalgia at an outpatient department in a hospital in Beijing. Patients were diagnosed according to the criteria set by the American College of Rheumatology (1990). A bamboo cup, boiled in herbal decoction for 5 min, was applied to Ashi points for 10 min once daily for 15 days. Pain, assessed via a 10-point visual analogue scale (VAS), and the number of tender points were recorded at baseline, 5, 10, 15 days, and 2 weeks following the final treatment.ResultsAt baseline, the average pain was 2.63 ± 0.73 on the VAS, and patients had an average of 13.5 ± 1.66 tender points. The pain scores decreased from baseline during treatment (2.22 ± 0.77 at 5 days, 1.78 ± 0.75 at 10 days, and 1.36 ± 0.76 at 15 days) as did the number of tender points (12.57 ± 2.25 at 5 days, 11.2 ± 2.50 at 10 days, 9.33 ± 2.89 at 15 days). A total of 29 patients completed follow-up 2 weeks after the final treatment, which suggested the reduction in pain and tender points was sustained (1.31 ± 0.76 for VAS; 9.07 ± 2.96 for pain points). There were no serious adverse effects as a result of cupping.ConclusionsMedicinal cupping therapy was associated with a reduction in fibromyalgia symptoms for both pain ratings and number of tender points. The findings from this case series should be tested in a controlled clinical trial.Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.

22 keywords...

hide…