The Effect of Dry Cupping on Gastrocnemius Muscle Stiffness, Range of Motion and Pain Perception After Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.

Background: Cupping therapy originated in Eastern Medicine, became renowned in complementary medicine and is utilized as a therapeutic treatment in contemporary medicine for musculoskeletal issues. As with any modality, there is a question of efficacy. Objective: This study investigated the effect of cupping therapy on muscle stiffness (MS), active dorsiflexion (DF) and perceived pain of the medial gastrocnemius muscle following a cupping therapy treatment. Methods: Single cohort design included 20 physically active, healthy participants (10 women, 10 men; age: 22.9 years ± 3.35 years) completed an exercise protocol to induce delayed onset muscle soreness in both lower legs. Intervention: A 5-minute dry cupping treatment was performed on the dominant leg medial gastrocnemius and 5 minutes of rest for the non-dominant control leg. Primary Outcome Measures: Muscle stiffness, active dorsiflexion and perceived pain were measured at baseline, pre-treatment, post-treatment and 5 minutes post-treatment in the medial gastrocnemius muscle. A repeated measures ANOVA was used to analyze the main effect and interaction for condition and time. Results: Active DF was significantly different from baseline to pre-treatment, post-treatment and 5 minutes post-treatment (P < .001, P < .001, P = .01, respectively). Pre-treatment to 5 minutes post-treatment, active DF was also significantly different (P = .05). Active DF was significantly improved post-treatment and 5 minutes post-treatment. Baseline pain was significantly different from pre-treatment, post-treatment and 5 minutes post-treatment measurements (P < .001, P < .001, P < .001, respectively). Pre-treatment pain was significantly different from post-treatment and 5 minutes post-treatment pain (P = .009, P < .001, respectively). Post-treatment pain was also significantly different from 5 minutes post-treatment pain (P = .007). MS was not significant at any of the time points (P = .398) or between conditions (P = .140). Conclusion: A single cupping treatment significantly improved active DF and decreased pain was observed in the treatment group. No significant difference in MS was observed following the treatment.

Interaction of SN Ib 2004dk with a Previously Expelled Envelope.

The interaction between the expanding supernova (SN) ejecta with the circumstellar material (CSM) that was expelled from the progenitor prior to explosion is a long-sought phenomenon, yet observational evidence is scarce. Here we confirm a new example: SN 2004dk, originally a hydrogen-poor, helium-rich Type Ib SN that reappeared as a strong Hα-emitting point source on narrowband Hα images. We present follow-up optical spectroscopy that reveals the presence of a broad Hα component with full width at half maximum of ~ 290 km s-1 in addition to the narrow Hα+[N ii] emission features from the host galaxy. Such a broad component is a clear sign of an ejecta-CSM interaction. We also present observations with the XMM-Newton Observatory, the Swift satellite, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory that span 10 days to 15 years after discovery. The detection of strong radio, X-ray, and Hα emission years after explosion allows various constraints to be put on pre-SN mass-loss processes. We present a wind-bubble model in which the CSM is "pre-prepared" by a fast wind interacting with a slow wind. Much of the outer density profile into which the SN explodes corresponds to no steady-state mass-loss process. We estimate that the shell of compressed slow wind material was ejected ~1400 yr prior to explosion, perhaps during carbon burning, and that the SN shock had swept up about 0.04 M ⊙ of material. The region emitting the Hα has a density of order 10-20 g cm-3.