Therapeutic Effectiveness of Hijama in Sciatica Pain

Abstract

Hijama is an alternative mode of treatment also known as cupping therapy. It involves removal of subcutaneous stagnant blood through suction cups after making superficial incisions at particular area of the body. This study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of hijama in sciatica pain at Aligarh Shifa hospital. 92 patients with the history of sciatica were selected randomly between 18 - 75 years of age and hijama cups were applied generally at C7, T2 and L5/S1 vertebrae, while two cups were also applied bilaterally on L4/L5 vertebrae, four cups were additionally applied on hip joint, back of thigh, knee and calf muscle, all cups were applied thrice at an interval of 15 days between each session. The decrease in sciatic pain was assessed after three sessions of Hijama by numeric pain rating scale there was overall significant reduction in pain with 67 percent patients showing relief in pain up to varying degree. Present study suggests that hijama has been found to be effective in relieving pain and improving quality of life in majority of the patient’s, hence may be used as effective alternative tool to alleviate pain.