the effect of four weeks of cupping therapy vs. myofascial release on pain, functional disability, balance, and quality of life in females with non-specific low back pain

Background: the efficacy of manual therapy focused on addressing stiffness in the lower extremities for individuals with non-specific low back pain (nslbp) remains inadequately substantiated.objectives: the objective of the study was to compare the effects of cupping therapy (ct) and myofascial release (mfr) interventions on nslbp symptoms. methods: a total of 30 females with nslbp participated in this study and were randomly assigned to ct and mfr groups. subjects in each group received intervention for four weeks, three sessions a week on even days. the pre- and post-intervention measurements used in the research were: the oswestry disability questionnaire (odi), visual analog scale (vas), berg balance scale (bbs), and who quality of life (wql) measurement. differences were evaluated by 2 × 2 mixed-design analysis of variance. results: the findings indicate that the interactions between groups and time, as well as the primary effect for the group, failed to attain statistical significance (p > 0.05) for all the measured outcomes. nevertheless, a notable main effect for time was observed (vas: p = 0.001, odi: p = 0.001, bbs: p = 0.001, wql: p = 0.001); such that the results of the bonferroni post hoc test showed that all parameters improved after the intervention in both groups (p < 0.05). there were no discernible between-group variances noted in the pre- and post-intervention periods. conclusions: based on these findings, both ct and mfr can be recommended as effective treatment options for nslbp in clinical practice. future studies should investigate longer-term effects and include male participants and different age groups to enhance generalizability.