Effect of traditional dry cupping therapy on heavy menstrual bleeding in menorrhagia: A preliminary study

Abstract

Menorrhagia (kasrate tams) is the most common gynecologic complaint in contemporary gynecology, affecting 10 to 15% of the adult female population. It can occur at any age. In the Unani system of medicine, since antiquity, dry cupping therapy (hijamat bila shurt) has been used to treat menorrhagia. An effort was made to evaluate the usefulness of dry cupping on excessive menstrual blood loss in menorrhagia with a well validated menstrual pictogram. This study was conducted on 15 patients at the National Institute of Unani Medicine, Hospital Bangalore, from January 2010 and July 2010. Unmarried or married patients aged 17 - 47 year with a history of excessive or prolonged bleeding per vaginum were included. Two large cups (with 5.7 cm internal diameter) were applied below each breast for 15 min, only once during the menstrual period when the patient reported to the outpatient department. If the menstrual flow was not reduced, the next day again dry cupping was repeated. The outcome was to assess the efficacy of dry cupping on the reduction in the amount of menstrual blood loss. The data was analyzed by the Wilcoxon matched test. The mean scores of menstrual blood loss before and after the treatment was 400.26 (277.95) and 48.4 (32.082) ml respectively, p = 0.002, considered statistically significant. A dry cupping therapy is a useful treatment modality in decreasing the amount of menstrual blood flow in menorrhagia. Further randomized controlled clinical trials and validation are needed in a large population.