1MPT Student, Sports, SGT University, Budhera, Gurugram, Haryana, India
2Professor & Dean, SGT University, Budhera, Gurugram, Haryana, India
3Assistant Professor, Faculty of Physiotherapy, SGT University, Budhera, Gurugram, Haryana, India
Online published on 14 October, 2021.
There is limited evidence available which support that dry cupping therapy can be used as an intervention in the management of chronic plantar fasciitis.
The present study aims to investigate the effectiveness of dry cupping on pain, dynamic balance, and functional performance in female recreational runners with chronic plantar fasciitis.
Thirty female recreational runners (27.8±5.51 year) recruited from SGT hospital. They were randomly divided into two groups: Dry cupping (Experimental group, n=15) and Conventional therapy (Control group n=15). The experimental group received dry cupping therapy along with the conventional treatment whereas the control group received conventional treatment alone for 4 weeks. Outcome variables such as pain (Numeric pain rating scale), dynamic balance (Star excursion balance test) and functional performance (Figure 8 hop test) were evaluated at baseline and after 4 weeks of study period.
Significant improvements were observed in both the groups. However, the dry cupping group showed significantly greater improvements as compared to control group. Significant group differences were illustrated for pain (p=0.001), dynamic balance (p=0.003) and functional performance (p=0.001).
Dry cupping may be considered an adjunct treatment method in addition to the conventional treatment in patient with chronic plantar fasciitis.
Plantar fasciitis, Dry cupping, Dynamic balance, Functional performance
