TITLE:
Therapeutic Effectiveness of Hijama in Sciatica Pain
AUTHORS:
Muhammad Bilal, Rafeeq Alam Khan
KEYWORDS:
Pain, Sciatica, Hijama, Cupping Therapy
JOURNAL NAME:
Pharmacology & Pharmacy,
Vol.7 No.8,
August
29,
2016
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.