Effectiveness of cupping therapy in managing neck pain and improving cervical mobility in cervical spondylosis patients: a randomized clinical trial

Cervical spondylosis is one of the common causes of chronic neck pain. This study aimed to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of fire cupping (FC) therapy versus electroacupuncture (EA) on reducing pain and improving cervical spine range of motion (ROM) in patients with neck pain due to cervical spondylosis. Eighty-two participants with neck pain caused by cervical spondylosis were randomly allocated in 1:1 ratio to either the FC or EA group. Both groups received treatment at EX-B2, A-shi, and Gall Bladder (GB21) acupuncture points. The two-week study assessed pain levels using the visual analog scale (VAS) at 2 points in time post-intervention and evaluated adverse effects weekly. After 2 weeks of intervention, VAS scores significantly decreased in both the FC group (from 6 [6–7] to 3 [2–3]) and the EA group (from 6 [6–7] to 2 [1–3]) (p<0.001). However, inter-group pain relief was not statistically significant (p=0.5794, Cohen’s d=0.12; 95% CI [–0.31–0.6]). Both groups showed statistically significant ROM improvement (p<0.001), though the EA group demonstrated better improvement in flexion, extension, and left/right lateral flexion (p<0.05). No adverse effects of FC were reported. FC appears to be an effective and safe therapy for neck pain due to cervical spondylosis, showing similar pain relief efficacy with no statistically significant difference compared to EA despite a lower treatment dosage. However, due to methodological limitations, these findings should be interpreted with caution and warrant further validation in rigorously designed studies.