The Effects of Cupping Massage in Patients With Chronic Neck Pain - A Randomized Controlled Trial (SKM)

April 30, 2018 updated by: Romy Lauche, Universität Duisburg-Essen

Randomised Controlled Trial on the Influence of Cupping Massage on Pain Intensity and Sensory Mechanical and Pain Thresholds in Patients With Chronic Non Specific Neck Pain

The study aims to investigate the influence of 5 cupping massage treatments on chronic non specific neck pain. 50 patients with neck pain are randomised into cupping treatment and waiting list control group. Before and after the intervention the investigators evaluate the neck pain (VAS), the neck related disability (NDI), pain on movement (POM) and the quality of life (SF36) and safety. To investigate neurophysiological effects of cupping the investigators also measure mechanical detection threshold (MDT), vibration detection threshold (VDT) and pressure pain threshold (PPT) and the two point discrimination threshold at pain related and control areas.

The treatment group receives 5 cupping treatments over a period of 3 weeks.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

see above

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

50

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Germany
    • NRW
      • Essen, NRW, Germany, 45276
        • Knappschaftskrankenhaus

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • age between 18 and 75
  • permanent neck pain for at least three months in a row
  • a minimum of 40mm of neck pain on a 100mm visual analogue scale (VAS)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • neck pain caused by trauma, inflammatory or malignant disease, by congenital malformation of the spine or if pain was accompanied by radicular symptoms such as radiating pain, paresis, prickling or tingling.
  • invasive treatments within the last 4 weeks, surgery to the spine within the last year, corticosteroid or opioid treatment.
  • serious acute or chronic organic disease such as diabetes or cancer, mental disorders, pregnancy, and haemorrhagic tendency or anticoagulation treatment.
  • non steroidal pain medication and physiotherapy were allowed if the treatment regimen was not altered for four weeks before and continued during the study.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Waiting List control group
No treatment within the study period, were allowed to continue physiotherapy and medication. Were offered the treatment after finishing the study
Experimental: Cupping massage treatment
Received the 5 cupping treatments, application twice a week on the upper back and neck
Procedure: Cupping massage
Using suction on the skin by means of glass cups, and moving the cups after applying massage oil on the skin
Other Names:
  • Moving cupping treatment

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pain intensity
Time Frame: 3 weeks
100mm Visual Analogue Scale from 0mm 'no pain' to 100mm 'maximal pain'
3 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pain on movement (POM)
Time Frame: 3 weeks
100mm Visual Analogue Scale from 0mm 'no pain' to 100mm 'maximal pain' Intensity rated for 6 movement directions flexion, tension, and rotation
3 weeks
Neck disability index
Time Frame: 3 weeks
NDI measures neck pain complaints (Vernon und Mior 1991)
3 weeks
Quality of Life SF-36
Time Frame: 3 weeks
the sf-36 is a short form health survey consisting of 8 scales to measure functional health and wellbeing (Bullinger & Kirchberger 1998)
3 weeks
mechanical detection threshold MDT
Time Frame: 3 weeks
by von Frey filaments to measure perception threshold for light touch (Rolke, Pain, 2006)
3 weeks
vibration detection threshold VDT
Time Frame: 3 weeks
with a tuning fork to measure perception threshold for vibration (Rolke, Pain, 2006)
3 weeks
pressure pain threshold PPT
Time Frame: 3 weeks
with a pressure gauge algometer to determine threshold for painful pressure (Rolke, Pain, 2006) on the area of maximal neck pain, the adjacent and hand and foot
3 weeks
Adverse events
Time Frame: 3 weeks
Number of patients with adverse events
3 weeks
two point discrimination threshold
Time Frame: 3 weeks
using a pair of circles, determining the distance necessary between those to perceive them as separate sensations
3 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Universität Duisburg-Essen

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: GUstav Dobos, Prof MD, University of Duisburg-Essen, Chair of Complementary and Integrative Medicine

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

May 1, 2009

Primary Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2011

Study Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 7, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 8, 2016

First Posted (Estimate)

January 11, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 2, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 30, 2018

Last Verified

April 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 09-3987-BO

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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