SynthesisRevista latino-americana de enfermagem2018
Cupping therapy and chronic back pain: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Revista latino-americana de enfermagem, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 30 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Cupping Therapy in the Treatment of Individuals With Nonspecific Chronic Low Back Pain
Effect of Dynamic Cupping Versus Myofascial Release on Pain, Range of Motion and Functional Performance in Athletes With Non-specific Low Back Pain
Effectiveness of Cupping Therapy in Patients With Chronic Nonspecific Low Back Pain: a Randomized Sham-controlled Trial
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 78 citations in OpenAlex.
- Update evidence of effectiveness on pain relieving of cupping therapy: a systematic review and Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Journal of traditional Chinese medicine = Chung i tsa chih ying wen pan · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy of cupping therapy on pain outcomes: an evidence-mapping study.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Pooled it
- Effectiveness of self-management of dry and wet cupping therapy for low back pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Medicine · 2022Pooled it
- The effect of wet cupping therapy on the clinical symptoms of adult-onset asthma: a randomized clinical trial.Turkish journal of medical sciences · 2024Trial
- Effect of neurogenic acupoint cupping on high sensitive C-reactive protein and pain perception in female chronic pelvic pain: A randomized controlled trial.Journal of musculoskeletal & neuronal interactions · 2021Trial
- Clinical study on the therapeutic effect of large-area cupping therapy for lumbar disc herniation of cold-damp type (a Traditional Chinese Medicine syndrome).Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Article
- Cupping therapy for chronic non-specific low back pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Article
- Parallels Between Cupping in Traditional Chinese Medicine andMedical acupuncture · 2024Article
- Article
- Using texture analysis of ultrasound images to assess the effect of cupping therapy on muscle quality of the triceps.PloS one · 2024Article
- Effect of myofascial cupping vs integrated neuromuscular inhibition techniques on pain and neck movement in individuals with latent trigger point in trapezius.Hong Kong physiotherapy journal : official publication of the Hong Kong Physiotherapy Association Limited = Wu li chih liao · 2023Article
- Disseminated Staphylococcus aureus infection after scarification wet cupping therapy: a case report and literature review.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2023Review
- Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Regarding Traditional and Complimentary Medicine in Oman.Sultan Qaboos University medical journal · 2023Article
- A Protocol for a Single-Centered, Pragmatic, Randomized, Controlled, Parallel Trial Comparing Comprehensive Nonsurgical Therapy Options for Individuals with Lumbar Spinal Stenosis.Journal of pain research · 2023Article
- Letter to the Editor: An Updated Overview of Low Back Pain Management.Asian spine journal · 2022Article
- The Effect of Static Cupping Therapy in Non-specific Low Back Pain for Primary Dysmenorrhea.Cureus · 2022Article
- From 'pain management' to 'integrated health clinic': a quality improvement project to transition patients on chronic opioid therapy to more evidence-based therapies for chronic pain.BMJ open quality · 2022Article
- An Update on Physical Therapy Adjuncts in Orthopedics.Arthroplasty today · 2022Article
- Effects of ear acupuncture combined with cupping therapy on severity and threshold of chronic back pain and physical disability: A randomized clinical trial.Journal of traditional and complementary medicine · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesto evaluate the evidence from the literature regarding the effects of cupping therapy on chronic back pain in adults, the most used outcomes to evaluate this condition, the protocol used to apply the intervention and to investigate the effectiveness of cupping therapy on the intensity of chronic back pain.
methodsystematic review and meta-analysis carried out by two independent researchers in national and international databases. Reference lists of systematic reviews were also explored. The quality of evidence was assessed according to the Jadad scale.
results611 studies were identified, of which 16 were included in the qualitative analysis and 10 in the quantitative analysis. Cupping therapy has shown positive results on chronic back pain. There is no standardization in the treatment protocol. The main assessed outcomes were pain intensity, physical incapacity, quality of life and nociceptive threshold before the mechanical stimulus. There was a significant reduction in the pain intensity score through the use of cupping therapy (p = 0.001).
conclusioncupping therapy is a promising method for the treatment of chronic back pain in adults. There is the need to establish standardized application protocols for this intervention.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.