Infrared thermal imaging-based skin temperature response during cupping at two different negative pressures

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Physiotherapy
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Cupping therapy is used to relieve muscle fatigue and pain post-exercise.
• Increased blood flow during cupping may alter local skin temperature.
• Dynamic temperature changes can be monitored using infrared thermography (IRT).

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the effect of cupping therapy on local skin temperature.
• To compare temperature responses under two different negative pressures (-0.03 and -0.04 MPa).
• To establish a foundation for evaluating cupping therapy efficacy using IRT.

Main Methods:

• Cupping therapy applied to forearms of 22 healthy subjects.
• Two negative pressures (-0.03 MPa and -0.04 MPa) were used.
• Infrared thermography (IRT) recorded dynamic skin temperature changes before, during, and after cupping.

Main Results:

• Both pressures induced non-linear temperature changes: decrease then increase during cupping, increase then decrease after.
• A significant difference in maximum post-cupping temperature increment was observed between pressure groups (P < 0.001).
• Maximum temperature increases were 0.92°C for -0.03 MPa and 1.42°C for -0.04 MPa.

Conclusions:

• Cupping therapy significantly alters local skin temperature in a non-linear manner.
• Higher negative pressure in cupping leads to a greater increase in skin temperature.
• IRT can provide objective data for selecting optimal cupping negative pressure and evaluating therapeutic effects.