Effects of negative pressure of four-cup cupping therapy on hemodynamic responses of the gastrocnemius

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jbmt.2025.01.024
• Publication Date: 2025-01-19T07:07:18Z
• Authors: Mansoureh Samadi; Liwan Huang; Pu-Chun Mo; Manuel Hernandez; Isabella Yu-Ju Hung; Yih-Kuen Jan
• Keywords: Cupping therapy; Gastrocnemius muscle

Previous studies investigating physiological mechanisms of cupping therapy often use a single-cup setting. It is unclear whether these findings could be applied to multiple-cup therapy. The hypothesis that under 4 cups stimulation, negative pressure at -225 mmHg would sufficient cause maximal vasodilatory response as -300 mmHg. Cupping was pressures -75, -225, and using four-cup setup on the gastrocnemius in 12 adults. Muscle hemodynamic responses (oxyhemoglobin, deoxy-hemoglobin, blood volume oxygenation) were measured multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy locations inside cup (proximal distal), outside (between distal cup). Two-way ANOVA with repeated measures used examine interaction main effects (3 levels) location (4 factors. results indicate significant between (P < 0.05) effect factors all measures. Post-hoc analysis demonstrated causes increase oxyhemoglobin (4.04 ± 0.77 μM mean SE), deoxy-hemoglobin (1.06 0.3 μM), (5.1 1.02 oxygenation (2.98 0.59 μM) area proximal compared (2.4 0.33 μM; 0.2 0.28 2.6 0.42 2.2 0.45 μM, respectively). this study extend current research establishing evidence 4-cup improving muscle oxygenation. These also confirm effectiveness influenced by levels anatomical cups, offering new insights into optimizing protocols for musculoskeletal rehabilitation.