Insights & Discussion
Cupping therapy, as an adjunct to current treatments, may potentially enhance efficacy when treating patients with chronic urticaria.
The research adopted a systematic review of randomized controlled trials, with the focus on efficacy and safety of cupping therapy for chronic urticaria. The researchers employed a search strategy aimed at identifying related keywords like "chronic urticaria" and "cupping therapy" in the title and abstracts, sourced from nine major electronic databases up till May 2019. Only trials that included patients with chronic urticaria who received dry or wet cupping were considered. The quality of the methodological design and potential bias of the studies were evaluated.
The findings suggest the efficacy of cupping therapy when used, not as a standalone treatment, but as an adjunct to other treatments, particularly to antihistamines and acupuncture. In a sample of trials, there were no significant differences between using wet cupping and conventional medications in terms of their total effective rate. However, cupping therapy combined with antihistamines or acupuncture was found to be more effective than when these treatments were used separately. No serious adverse events were reported as part of these findings.
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Some complementary approaches, such as massage and herbal ointments, show promise in reducing postpartum pain.
2022 Integrative Medicine Research The effectiveness and safety of complementary health approaches to managing postpartum pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis Smith CA, Hill E, Denejkina A, Thornton C, Dahlen HG
Systematic Review Acupuncture
This passage discusses a systematic review aimed at examining the effectiveness and safety of non-pharmacological methods for managing postpartum pain in women. The review included 30 trials involving both first-time and experienced mothers who experienced pain in the two weeks following childbirth. The primary focus was on pain reduction. The review found that massage showed a reduction in pain for women who had undergone caesarean births within the first 24 hours postpartum and at seven days postpartum. Additionally, herbal ointments were found to reduce perineal pain for women who had received an episiotomy within the first 24 hours and at 14 days postpartum. However, the number of trials reporting on safety was limited, and the overall quality of evidence was deemed very low. The conclusion emphasizes the need for further high-quality trials to assess the safety and effectiveness of herbal ointment and massage during the early postpartum period.
Acupuncture coupled with traditional Chinese medicine may be more effective and safer than conventional Western medicine in treating chronic urticaria.
2022 Medicine Efficacy and safety of Chinese medicine combined with acupuncture in the treatment of chronic urticaria: A meta-analysis Lu Z, Zhou Q, Chai S, Yang H, Wang J, Luo H, et al.
Systematic Review Acupuncture Hives
To compare the efficacy of acupuncture with traditional Chinese medicine to conventional Western medicine, several databases, including Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CNKI, Wanfang, CQVIP, and CBM, were searched until August 2021. The criterion for inclusion were randomized control trials where the experimental group was treated with acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, and the control group with conventional Western medicine. Studies were excluded if they were repeated publications, lacked full text, incomplete in information, or incapable of data extraction. Animal experiments, reviews, and systematic reviews were also disregarded. Data analysis was conducted using STATA 15.1 software.
The analyzed results revealed that the total effective rate of the group treated with acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine was noticeably higher than those treated with conventional Western medicine. Additionally, this group showed considerably lower Urticaria Activity Scores and pruritus scores compared to those treated with Western medicine. However, there was no substantial difference shown in the wheal score between both groups. Significantly, the recurrence rate and the incidence rate of adverse events in the group treated with acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine were markedly lower than the other group. This highlights the greater effectiveness and safety of the combination of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine for chronic urticaria compared to Western medicine.
Moving cupping therapy, alone or coupled with other treatments, could effectively alleviate symptoms of plaque psoriasis with minimal side effects.
2020 Medicine Moving cupping therapy for plaque psoriasis Xing M, Ding X, Zhang J, Kuai L, Ru Y, Sun X, et al.
Systematic Review Psoriasis
The researchers conducted an exhaustive review of various databases up until March 2020, including PubMed, Embase, and others. The review focused on randomized controlled trials concerning the treatment of plaque psoriasis using moving cupping therapy, either alone or combined with Chinese herbs or conventional Western medicine. The effects obtained from these trials were contrasted with outcomes from placebo-controlled, pharmaceutical medication-based or Chinese herb-based treatments. They also compared the frequency of the moving cupping treatment.
After a meticulous selection process, sixteen trials involving 1164 participants met the entry criteria. The meta-analysis demonstrated that those who underwent moving cupping therapy exhibited significant symptom improvement compared to those who did not. Additionally, the combination of moving cupping and pharmaceutical medications proved to be more effective than pharmaceutical treatments alone. The recurring rate of psoriasis also substantially dropped due to cupping therapy. While moving cupping reduced some blood markers more effectively than conventional medicine did, it didn't show distinct advantages in the visual analogue score. Few transient side effects like redness, itching, and local skin burning were reported associated with moving cupping therapy.
Acupuncture shows potential in reducing pain intensity, alleviating anxiety, and improving quality of life for patients suffering from postherpetic neuralgia.
2019 Journal of Pain Research Is acupuncture an effective postherpetic neuralgia treatment? A systematic review and meta-analysis Pei, W., Zeng, J., Lu, L., et al.
Systematic Review Postherpetic Neuralgia Shingles Skin Conditions
Methodology: To understand the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating postherpetic neuralgia, six different databases were examined for randomized controlled trials. The data from these studies was extracted and further assessed for quality. A meta-analysis was conducted on a selection of these studies using the software RevMan 5.3. Additionally, the Grading of Recommendations Assessment Development and Evaluation system contributed towards evaluating the overall quality of the evidence presented in these studies.
Discussion: The research establishes that acupuncture has a positive effect on postherpetic neuralgia, such as lowering the intensity of pain experienced and reducing the scores on the Hamilton Anxiety Scale. Other forms of intervention like electroacupuncture, fire needle, and bloodletting and cupping also proved effective in relieving pain. The results also indicate an enhanced quality of life for those individuals who used acupuncture. The quality of evidence that supports the use of acupuncture for this type of pain was judged to be moderate.
Acupuncture may improve symptoms in patients with mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis.
2018 Complementary Therapies in Medicine Acupuncture improves symptoms in patients with mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis: A randomized, sham-controlled preliminary trial Smith CA, Armour M, Lee MS, Wang LQ, Hay PJ
Randomised Controlled Trial Eczema Skin Conditions
The SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD), VAS (Pruritus), VAS (Insomnia), Patient Oriented Eczema Measure (POEM), Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), and Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) were significantly improved in the real acupuncture groups.
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