Volume 24, Issue 104, July - August, 2020

Wet cupping therapy improved the quality of life in chronic Bell’s palsy patients

Aysha A Alshareef¹, Amal Obeid²

¹Internal Medicine Department, Neurology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
²Director of Training in Prophetic Medical Chair Clinics, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Bell's palsy, also known as idiopathic facial paralysis, is known to be a severe acute impairment of facial motor neurons. The idea of employing adjuvant therapy in managing subjects with Bell's palsy has been occasionally reported in the published research. Aim: This study aimed to assess the effect of wet cupping on the quality of life of patients with Bell’s palsy. Methods: This is an interventional study which was conducted on fifteen patients with chronic Bell’s palsy of different aetiologies diagnosed in the Neurology Clinic, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. All patients were undergoing wet cupping in the Cupping Clinic in King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The number of wet cupping therapy was between 2 to 10 sessions. The participants asked to complete the facial disability index (FDI) before (Pre-Cupp) and after cupping (Post-Cupp) therapy. Results: Wet cupping improved the physical, social, and combined physical and social scores in Bell’s palsy patients compared with precupping state. Furthermore, the cupping also ameliorated the compound motor action compared with pre-cupping state. On the other hand, the wet cupping did not exert any effect on the distal latency compared with the pre-cupping state. There was no correlation between gender, presence of physiotherapy, number of cupping, age, duration of Bell’s palsy, and family history of Bell’s palsy and post cupping physical score, social score, compound motor action potential, and distal latency. Conclusion: Wet cupping may be a hopeful important adjuvant therapy for chronic Bell's palsy patients.

Keywords: Bell's palsy, wet cupping, physical score, social score, distal latency, compound motor action

Medical Science, 2020, 24(104), 2373-2381

PDF