Acupuncture Supports Pricking-bloodletting Cupping on Acne Vulgaris

Acupuncture Supports Pricking-bloodletting 

Cupping on Acne Vulgaris   

Pricking-bloodletting cupping is a traditional Chinese medicine procedure. It causes bleeding and pain. Xu et al. conducted a study to evaluate the effect on acne vulgaris of pricking-bloodletting cupping at Dazhui (DU 14) under acupuncture anesthesia by stimulating Hegu (LI 4) and Quchi (LI 11). The study enrolled thirty-eight patients and they were randomized into a control group and an intervention group with a single-blind method. The patients in the control group were treated by pricking-bloodletting cupping at Dazhui (DU 14) and the patients in the treatment group were treated by pricking-bloodletting cupping at Dazhui (DU 14) under acupuncture anesthesia at Hegu (LI 4) and Quchi (LI 11). The patients in both groups were treated twice weekly for 6 weeks. The outcome measures included visual analog scale (VAS) and global acne grading system (GAGS). The study showed that there were differences in the VAS scores of pain on pricking and in the pricked area, and the duration of pain between the two groups. The study also demonstrated that after twelve treatments, there was a significant reduction in GAGS scores from baseline in both groups, but there was no significant difference between the groups. This study strongly indicated that acupuncture anesthesia at Hegu (LI 4) and Quchi (LI 11) alleviated the pain of pricking-bloodletting cupping and reduced the duration of pain in the treatment area. The study also demonstrated that pricking-bloodletting cupping at Dazhui (DU 14) improved the skin lesions of patients with moderate acne vulgaris, but acupuncture anesthesia didn’t produce any additional benefit. 

Source: Xu J, Lin R, Wang J, Wu Y, Wang Y, Zhang Y, Xi C, Wu Q. Effect of acupuncture anesthesia on acne vulgaris of pricking-bloodletting cupping: a single-blind randomized clinical trial. J Tradit Chin Med. 2013 Dec;33(6):752-6.