title: Significant and sustaining elevation of blood oxygen induced by Chinese cupping therapy as assessed by near-infrared spectroscopy.
abstract: Cupping therapy has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years to relieve muscle pain/tendency/fatigue and to cure or reduce symbols of other diseases. However, its therapeutic effect is sparsely interpreted in the language of modern physiology. To objectively evaluate its therapeutic effect, we focused on dry cupping treatment and utilized near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to assess the concentration change in oxy-hemoglobin ([HbO2]), deoxy-hemoglobin ([Hb]), and blood volume in the course of cupping therapy over 13 volunteers on the infraspinatus muscle, where is usually applied for shoulder pains. Both a prominent drop in [Hb] and a significant elevation in [HbO2] in the tissue surrounding the cupping site were observed during both cupping and post-treatment, manifesting the enhancement of oxygen uptake. This resulting promotion indicates potential positive therapeutic effect of cupping therapy in hemodynamics for facilitating muscular functions.
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab Elect Thin Film & Integrated Device, University of Electronic Science & Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China; Shenzhen Geno-Immune Medicine Institute, Shenzhen, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab Elect Thin Film & Integrated Device, University of Electronic Science & Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China.
authors.forename: Yaoxian
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab Elect Thin Film & Integrated Device, University of Electronic Science & Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
keywords: (170.4580) Optical diagnostics for medicine; (170.6510) Spectroscopy, tissue diagnostics