The Effectiveness of Wet Cupping on Persistent Non-specific Low Back Pain

The Effectiveness of Wet Cupping on Persistent Non-specific Low Back Pain: A Randomized, Waiting-list Controlled, Open-label, Parallel-group Pilot Study

The hypothesis of this study is that the improvement of Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) for Pain at the end of the study will be greater in the Wet Cupping Treatment group than in the Waiting Control group.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients who have had non-specific low back pains at least 12 weeks now.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who have low back pain due to specific and known etiological causes (infection, tumor, osteoporosis, ankylosing spondylitis, fracture, inflammatory process, radicular syndrome, cauda equinal syndrome).

• Patients who are inappropriate to the wet cupping treatment.

  • AIDS, Active Hepatitis, Tuberculosis, Syphilis
  • Patients who regularly take anticoagulants, antiplatelet drugs
  • Anemia, thrombocytopenia
  • Hemorrhagic disease like hemophilia
  • Diabetes
  • Severe cardiovascular disease
  • Kidney diseases (renal failure, chronic renal disease)

• Patients who have experiences of wet cupping treatment during last 3 months.

• Patients who have had treatment for low back pain during last 2 weeks.

• Patients who are in pregnancy or have plan to conception.

• Patients who have vertebra surgery or have plan of surgery.

• Patients who are inappropriate to join this trial judged by the radiologists or specialists.