Effects Of Dry Cupping Therapy on Pain and Symptoms Severity in Primary Dysmenorrhea

A randomized, standard controlled clinical trial was conducted from August 2014 to February 2016. Diagnosed case of primary dysmenorrhea aged between 12-30 years were included in the research. A total of 60 subjects were assigned randomly to the interventions. They divide subjects into three groups randomly using computer software (graph pad software quickcals) each group has 20 number of subjects .The test group A received 3gm of herbal drug namely hulba twice in a day from day 1 to day 3 of menstrual cycle. The test group B received same dose of hulba with dry cupping. For dry cupping three medium cups were applied below the umbilicus for 15 minutes on day 1 and day 3 of menstruation. Group C is controlled group which received standard drug mefanamic acid, 500 mg twice daily for same duration as the test drug. These interventions were given for three consecutive cycles by the end of three months results were analyzed. The parameters were evaluated before and after the trial. after the completion of statistical analysis they find out that the dry cupping was more effective than mefanamic acid in reducing pain intensity in dysmenorrhea .they also notice the overall improvement in other associated symptoms like nausea vomiting fatigue and headache .No adverse effects had observed either in the subjects of test group or standard group .

Another research in 2018 was conducted they divide subjects into two groups In the intervention group, dry cupping therapy from 3 days before to 3 days after the onset of menstruation for three successive menstrual cycles they placed two cups on the lower back on each side of the spine and another on the supra pubic area for 10-15 min once daily. Students in the control group did not receive cupping therapy but their PD severity symptoms were assessed and documented for three menstrual cycle .Results indicated a significant decrease in PD severity after dry cupping for three menstrual cycles. Similarly, a study in India found that cupping therapy significantly reduced the PD by improving the local blood to uterus and reduces blood congestion. This study concludes that dry cupping can be effective in significantly reducing PD and its associated symptoms. Given its effectiveness, inexpensiveness, and safety, individuals with PD can refer to cupping technicians to receive dry cupping for PD management. More studies with larger samples are still needed to provide conclusive evidence about the effectiveness of dry cupping in reducing PD .

According to research in 2018 conducted the highest incidence of PD (57.5%) was observed in the group of 15-25years and less (8.57%) in the age group of above 35 years The highest incidence of dysmenorrhea (27.5%)was observed in10th class students while lowest incidence(5%) was observed in post-graduation students. It has been concluded that cupping is very effective for relief of it is cheaper and well tolerated by patient and there are no observed side effects of cupping therapy on patient .

Reviewing the previous literature on the effects of dry cupping therapy provides sufficient evidences on pain management with Primary dysmenorrhea but controlling the other associated symptoms through dry cupping is not enough. Hence dry cupping is an effective intervention to control symptoms associated with dysmenorrhea but its clinical application is very limited. In this study dry cupping will be used to minimize pain and manage backache during menstruation.