The use of dry cupping in musculoskeletal medicine
Summary
Cupping is an ancient technique used in treating pain and various disorders. Different techniques have been developed over time, however, applying a cup to create suc- tion over a painful area, is common to all. Dry or fire cupping, used on the intact skin, leaves bluish circular hematomas. Recently, interest in cupping has re-emerged and subsequently, several studies have begun to investigate the mechanisms of cupping therapy.
Mechanically, cupping increases blood circulation, whereas physiologically it activates the immune system and stimulates the mechanosensitive fibers, thus leading to a reduction in pain. There is initial scientific evidence that dry cupping is able to reduce musculoskeletal pain. Since cupping is an inexpensive, noninvasive and low-risk (if performed by a trained pra- ctitioner) therapeutic modality, we believe that it should be included in the arsenal of muscu- loskeletal medicine. It is essential to perform additional studies clarifying the biological mechanism and clinical effects of cupping.
Journal of Bodywork & Movement Therapies
Evgeni Rozenfeld, BPT a,b,
Leonid Kalichman, PT, PhD a,
* a *Department of Physical Therapy, Recanati School for Community Health Professions, Faculty of Health Sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
* b *Department of Physical Therapy, Medical Corps, IDF, Beer-Sheva, Israel
Received 30 August 2015