Key Finding
Cupping therapy significantly reduced pain intensity in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain (SMD = −1.17; moderate-quality evidence), but did not significantly improve functional disability or mental health outcomes.
If you live with chronic muscle or joint pain, you know how much it can affect your daily life. Researchers have been studying whether cupping therapy — a traditional healing practice that uses suction cups placed on the skin — can help ease that persistent discomfort. A new study published in BMJ Open looked at all the available research to get a clearer picture.
Scientists conducted what's called a systematic review and meta-analysis, meaning they gathered and combined results from multiple high-quality studies to draw stronger conclusions. They searched major medical databases through December 2024 and focused on studies where patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) received cupping therapy and were then compared to patients who did not.
The good news: cupping therapy showed a significant and meaningful reduction in pain intensity. Patients who received cupping reported notably less pain compared to those in comparison groups, and the researchers rated this finding as moderate quality evidence — a reasonably solid result in the world of clinical research.
However, the study also found some important limitations. Cupping therapy did not show significant improvements in functional disability — meaning how well people could move and perform daily tasks — or in mental health outcomes like anxiety and depression. So while cupping may help take the edge off pain, it may not address all the ways chronic pain impacts your life on its own.
What does this mean for you? If you're dealing with chronic muscle or joint pain, cupping therapy could be a worthwhile addition to your overall care plan, particularly for immediate pain relief. It's best thought of as one tool among many, potentially complementing other treatments like acupuncture, physical therapy, or medical care.
Always seek treatment from a licensed, qualified practitioner who can tailor cupping therapy safely to your individual needs.
This systematic review and meta-analysis, published in BMJ Open, evaluated the efficacy of cupping therapy for chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) across randomised controlled trials identified from PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCO, Cochrane Library, and CNKI through December 2024. Outcomes assessed included pain intensity, functional disability, and mental health. Risk of bias was evaluated using Cochrane Collaboration and Evidence Project tools; findings were graded via GRADE evidence profiles.
Cupping therapy demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in pain intensity (SMD = −1.17; 95% CI = −1.93 to −0.42; p = 0.002; I² = 94%) under a random-effects model, rated as moderate-quality evidence. No significant effects were observed for functional disability (SMD = −0.24; p = 0.51; I² = 93%) or mental health (SMD = 0.08; p = 0.46; I² = 0%). High heterogeneity in pain and disability outcomes warrants cautious interpretation.
Clinical takeaway: Cupping therapy may offer meaningful short-term analgesia for CMP patients but should be integrated within a multimodal treatment framework to address functional and psychological dimensions of chronic pain.
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Find a practitioner →📌 A Cochrane systematic review protocol has been registered to formally evaluate the benefits and harms of cupping therapy for chronic non-specific low back pain, with full results pending.
📌 This RCT protocol is among the first high-methodological-rigor studies designed to evaluate whether dry cupping therapy combined with the McKenzie Method produces greater improvements in disability and function than sham cupping plus exercise alone in adults with non-specific chronic low back pain.
📌 Adding dry cupping therapy to conventional treatment provided no additional benefit over conventional therapy alone for pain, disability, or pressure pain thresholds in patients with chronic non-specific low back pain.