Dry cupping therapy and the wellness management of health travelers

Objective:Individuals travel locally and internationally in order to find alternative treatments which are less-toxic and more beneficial to their health and wellness.Despite the popularity of the western system of medicine,cupping therapies are gaining enormous attention in Pakistan as a system of traditional and complementary medicine to ensure the quality of life and wellness notions of the people.The present study aims to examine the effectiveness of dry cupping therapy(DCT)on the health,wellness,and quality of life preferences of health-seeking travelers in a sample of Faisalabad.Methods:DCT was performed for 15-20 minutes on subjects by using 3-5 disposable cupping glasses.Study participants filled the questionnaires before and after DCT interventions.Partial least square structural equation modeling technique is used in order to statistically analyze the data.Results:A total of 187 subjects participated in two DCT interventions at Coural Wellness Center Faisalabad and provided their final responses after 30 days from 2nd DCT.Respondents’perceptions of their physical feelings were generally found in a significantly positive and direct relation with DCT and health status(HS),i.e.,body pain(β=0.019),vitality(β=0.138),and bodily movement(β=0.207).This trend was observed in the psychological feelings of respondents as well,i.e.,emotional feelings(β=0.169).DCT significantly mediated the overall phenomenon and variance account for values were found between 20%and 80%for all the study constructs.The scores of all the health and wellness items on the questionnaire were significantly improved in 79.68%of studied participants after 1st and 2nd DCT interventions except for social functioning.Conclusion:Findings of the present study suggest that DCT has an important role in determining the health perceptions and HS of health travelers without potential side-effects.It can improve the health and overall quality of life of the people by positively influencing their physical and psychological health perceptions.It additionally leads to improve travelers’emotion,behavior,and other daily matters.

The effect of dry-cupping combined with lavender oil massage on postpartum perineal pain:a case study

to examine the effect of dry cupping therapy with lavender oil massage on the intensity of postpartum perineal pain.Methods:A 33 years old female had suffered with postpartum perineal pain.She experienced bilateral episiotomy on the third birth.Dry cupping therapy was administrated on selected areas two times.Before giving cupping therapy,at the 4th and 24th hours of birth was investigated effectiveness of dry cupping therapy on postpartum perineal pain based on the short-form of McGill pain scale.Results:According to the McGill pain scale,the mean of postpartum perineal pain intensity decreased from 37.9±10.5 before the dry cupping therapy with lavender oil massage to 12.1±5.3 in 4th hour,and 6.3±1.3.2 in 24th hour after delivery.The patient on cupping therapy with lavender oil message showed better results terms of pain intensity(P<0.001).Conclusion:The study confirmed that dry cupping therapy with lavender oil massage reduced postpartum perineal pain.In this regard,this intervention may be considered as affective method for reducing postpartum perineal pain.However,further trials are required to identify the effectiveness of this therapy regiment.

Evidence and Expert Opinions:Drying Needling versus Acupuncture(Ⅱ)--The American Alliance for Professional Acupuncture Safety(AAPAS)White Paper 2016

In the United States and other Western countries, dry needling has been a topic in academic and legal fields. This White Paper is to provide the authoritative information of dry needling versus acupuncture to academic scholars, healthcare professionals, administrators, policymakers, and the general public by providing the authoritative evidence and expertise regarding critical issues of dry needling and reaching a consensus. We conclude that Dr. Travell, Dr. Gunn, Dr. Baldry and others who have promoted dry needling by simply rebranding（1） acupuncture as dry needling and（2） acupuncture points as trigger points（dry needling points）. Dry needling simply using English biomedical terms（especially using ＂fascia＂ hypothesis） in replace of their equivalent Chinese medical terms. Dry needling is an over-simplified version of acupuncture derived from traditional Chinese acupuncture except for emphasis on biomedical language when treating neuromuscularskeletal pain（dry needling promoters redefined it as ＂myofascial pain＂）. Trigger points belong to the category of Ashi acupuncture points in traditional Chinese acupuncture, and they are not a new discovery. By applying acupuncture points, dry needling is actually trigger point acupuncture, an invasive therapy（a surgical procedure） instead of manual therapy. Dr. Travell admitted to the general public that dry needling is acupuncture, and acupuncture professionals practice dry needling as acupuncture therapy and there are several criteria in acupuncture profession to locate trigger points as acupuncture points. Among acupuncture schools, dry needling practitioners emphasize acupuncture＇s local responses while other acupuncturists pay attention to the responses of both local, distal, and whole body responses. For patients＇ safety, dry needling practitioners should meet standards required for licensed acupuncturists and physicians.