Effectiveness of wet cupping therapy on relieving pain in patients with chronic migraine: an observational study

• Published in: Journal of complementary & integrative medicine Vol. 18; no. 3; pp. 569 - 577
• Main Authors: Abdulah, Deldar Morad, Mohammedsadiq, Hawar Abdulrazaq, Mohammed, Ary Habeeb
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany De Gruyter 01.04.2021; Walter de Gruyter GmbH
• Subjects: alternative medicine; Chronic pain; complication; Headaches; Migraine; migraine headache; Observational studies; Pain; Scars; Severity; Side effects; Teams; wet cupping; wet cupping; complication; alternative medicine; migraine headache
• ISSN: 2194-6329; 1553-3840
• DOI: 10.1515/jcim-2020-0183

Chronic migraine is a disabling condition that negatively affects many aspects of migraineurs' lives. Patients who use pharmacological agents experience various side effects. Some studies have reported clinical improvement following wet cupping therapy in migraine patients. This study examined the effectiveness of wet cupping therapy on headache severity and its complications in patients with migraine. In this study, a total of 29 patients previously diagnosed with migraine were treated with wet cupping therapy and followed up for headache severity. The severity of pain was measured before therapy, 1 h after therapy, and one month after therapy. The wet cupping therapy was performed by an experienced nurse who was not part of the research team. The mean age of the patients was 36.17 (Sta. Deviation: 10.74 years; range: 22-68 years), and on average, patients had experienced migraine for 11.14 years. The severity of headache pain was decreased significantly from 6.66 (very intense pain) before cupping therapy to 2.48 (discomforting pain) 1 h after cupping therapy and 0.72 (very mild pain) one month after cupping therapy (p<0.001). The observed complications were skin pigmentation (6.9%), skin scarring (24.1%), and itching in the cupping region (31.0%). The present study suggests a significant improvement in the severity of headache in migraine patients 1 h and one month after wet cupping therapy.