A Comparative Clinical Study on the Efficacy of Hijama Mutaharrika with Roghan-e-Narjeel and Hijama Bila-Shart in the Treatment of Waja’al-Zahr (Non-Specific Low Back Pain)

This is a randomized, open-label, parallel-group comparative clinical trial to evaluate and compare the efficacy of Hijama Mutaharrika (gliding cupping) with Roghan-e-Narjeel (virgin coconut oil) versus Hijama Bila-Shart (dry/static cupping) in sixty-eight patients aged 20–60 years suffering from mild to moderate non-specific low back pain (Waja’al-Zahr) without radiation or red-flag signs. Patients will be equally randomized into two groups, each receiving 14 alternate-day sessions of 10-minute cupping therapy over 4 weeks on the lumbosacral region. The primary outcomes are reduction in pain measured by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and improvement in disability assessed by Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), while the secondary outcome is quality of life measured by Short Form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire at baseline, 14th day, and 28th day. The study is being conducted as an academic MD dissertation at the Department of Ilaj-bit-Tadabeer, State Unani Medical College and Hospital, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India, under the supervision of Prof. Nusrat Parveen, with ethical clearance applied for and no external funding.