Key result
Cupping therapy at -300 mmHg for 10 min resulted in higher oxyhemoglobin (6.75 ± 2.08 μM) and deoxy-hemoglobin (1.71 ± 0.78 μM) compared to other pressure and duration combinations.
Why the study?
Cupping therapy is widely used to manage musculoskeletal impairment, but the effects of cupping therapy pressure and duration on muscle hemodynamic activity have not been investigated.
Do different pressures and durations of cupping therapy affect muscle blood volume and oxygenation?
Do different pressures and durations of cupping therapy affect muscle blood volume and oxygenation?
p-value: p=0.045
Cupping therapy at higher pressure (-300 mmHg) and longer duration (10 min) significantly increases muscle blood volume and oxygenation compared to lower pressure and shorter duration.
May optimize cupping for muscle oxygenation; hypothesis-generating and should not yet change practice.
Cupping therapy has been widely used to manage musculoskeletal impairment. However, the effects of pressure and duration of cupping therapy on the hemodynamic activity of the muscle have not been investigated. A 2 × 2 repeated measures factorial design was used to examine the main effect and interaction of pressure (-225 and -300 mmHg) and duration (5 and 10 min) on biceps muscle blood flow using near-infrared spectroscopy in 18 participants. The results showed that a significant interaction is between pressure and duration on deoxy-hemoglobin (p = 0.045). A significant main effect of pressure is on oxyhemoglobin (p = 0.005) and a significant main effect of duration is on oxyhemoglobin (p = 0.005). Cupping therapy at -300 mmHg for 10 min results in a higher oxyhemoglobin (6.75 ± 2.08 μM) and deoxy-hemoglobin (1.71 ± 0.78 μM) compared to other three combinations. Our study provides first evidence that the pressure and duration factors of cupping therapy can significantly affect muscle blood volume and oxygenation.
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Li et al. (2023) studied this question. Cupping therapy vs. Other pressure and duration combinations was evaluated on biceps muscle blood flow (oxyhemoglobin and deoxy-hemoglobin) (p=0.045). Cupping therapy at -300 mmHg for 10 min resulted in higher oxyhemoglobin (6.75 ± 2.08 μM) and deoxy-hemoglobin (1.71 ± 0.78 μM) compared to other pressure and duration combinations.
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