Hindawi Publishing Corporation

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Volume 2012, Article ID 521612, 7 pages
doi:10.1155/2012/521612

Research Article
Evaluation of the Effect of Laser Acupuncture and Cupping with
Ryodoraku and Visual Analog Scale on Low Back Pain

Mu-Lien Lin,1, 2 Hung-Chien Wu,3 Ya-Hui Hsieh,4 Chuan-Tsung Su,5 Yong-Sheng Shih,5
Chii-Wann Lin,1 and Jih-Huah Wu5
1 Instituteof Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei City 10617, Taiwan
2 Department of Pain Management, Taipei City Hospital Zhong Xing Branch, Zheng Zhou Road, No.145, Taipei 103, Taiwan
3 Yi Sheng Chinese Medicine Clinic, Room 3, 4 Floor, No. 333, Fuxing N. Road, Songshan District, Taipei City 105, Taiwan
4 Department of Healthcare Information and Management, Ming Chuan University, No. 5, Deming Road,

Gweishan Township, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan

5 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ming Chuan University, No. 5, Deming Road., Gweishan Township, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan

Correspondence should be addressed to Jih-Huah Wu, wujh@mail.mcu.edu.tw

Received 6 April 2012; Revised 6 July 2012; Accepted 9 July 2012

Academic Editor: Di Zhang

Copyright © 2012 Mu-Lien Lin et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of laser acupuncture (LA) and soft cupping on low back pain. In this study, the
subjects were randomly assigned to two groups: active group (real LA and soft cupping) and placebo group (sham laser and soft
cupping). Visual analog scale (VAS) and Ryodoraku were used to evaluate the effect of treatment on low back pain in this trial.
Laser, 40 mW, wavelength 808 nm, pulse rate 20 Hz, was used to irradiate Weizhong (BL40) and Ashi acupoints for 10 minutes.
And the Ryodoraku values were measured 2 times, that is, before and 15 minutes after treatment. The results show that there were
significant difference between the first day baseline and the fifth day treatment in VAS in the two groups. Therefore, LA combined
with soft cupping or only soft cupping was effective on low back pain. However, the Ryodoraku values of Bladder Meridian of the
placebo group have been decreased apparently, and didn’t come back to their original values. It means that “cupping” plays the role
of “leak or purge” in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). On the other hand, the Ryodoraku values of Bladder Meridian of the
active group have been turned back to almost their original values; “mend or reinforcing” effect is attributed to the laser radiation.

1. Introduction acupuncture has efficacy for the treatment of long-term

disease of neck pain [6]. Ahsin et al. also showed that the
Most people often disregard the severity and the impact of electroacupuncture active group was more effective than the
low back pain (LBP). However, the influences of LBP can placebo group for improvement of stiffness and disability
be very widespread, especially in the aspect of quality of life. on osteoarthritis of the knee [7]. However, for those people
And the impact of LBP will lead to spinal instability finally. It who were afraid of needles, they do not will to endure the
will produce more uncomfortable status and lead to chronic tingling of acupuncture. Some researchers tried to replace
LBP eventually [1]. the needles by using laser; therefore, it was called ”laser
Acupuncture was the oldest and also an important ther- acupuncture” (LA). LA has the characteristics of being
apy of TCM. It has been accepted for pain relief, and it was noninvasive, noninfectious, easy to use, and it can avoid the
regarded as a complementary therapy in most countries [2]. pain and psychological fear of traditional acupuncture. Thus,
At present, there was sufficient evidences to prove the clinical LA was chosen in this trial.
value of acupuncture [3, 4] and encourage further studies After laser biostimulation was published by a Hungarian
to elucidate the relationship between physiological changes professor, Dr. Mester, in 1969, low level laser therapy (LLLT)
and clinical outcomes. For instance, needle acupuncture has gradually gained popularity from eastern Europe to
has 80% subjective improvement on osteoarthritis of the the whole world. Many scholars also used Nd:YAG laser
knee [5]. Moreover, various studies have shown that needle or semiconductor diode laser as laser source to treat lower
2 Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

back pain and musculoskeletal back pain [8, 9]. In 2002,

Molsberger et al. showed that acupuncture (fixed points) LA
plus conventional orthopedic therapy versus sham plus Rest Test 1 + Rest Test 2
conventional orthopedic therapy was statistically significant soft cupping
(P = 0.013) after test [10]. LA was widely used for treatment
of acute or chronic pain, such as chronic myofascial pain 10 min 5 min 10 min 15 min 5 min
in the neck [11]. Shen et al. showed that the pain of
osteoarthritis was reduced on active laser treatment group Measurement procedure
[12]. There was another therapy called cupping, and it
Figure 1: Protocol in this study.
can remove the wind-cold-dampness, stagnant blood. In
addition, the combination of acupuncture and cupping was
an appropriate therapy with a shorter treatment course [13].
After conducting the LA and cupping in the painful area,
it can facilitate the flow of QI in meridians. According to
Arndt-Schulz Biological Law [14], when energy densities
were too small, no significant effect can be observed.
Higher energy densities resulted in the inhibition of cellular
functions. Thus, low energy laser was used in this study.
The Ryodoraku (meridian) theory was developed by
Nakatani [15], and the values of Ryodoraku can reflect the
conditions of the relative meridians and organs by analyzing
and comparing their changes with microelectrical current.
Weizhong
The Ryodoraku gives a clear definition of its measuring. (BL40)
The electrical current between two acupoints was larger
than 90 µA or smaller than 50 µA, and it represented their
the relative meridian is excess syndrome or deficiency
syndrome, respectively. In 1998, Ulett et al. noted that
acupuncture includes many techniques such as acupressure,
shiatsu, laser acupuncture, Ryodoraku, electro-acupuncture,
and more [16]. In 2003, Wang et al. used acupuncture Figure 2: Weizhong (BL40) acupoint.
with Ryodoraku for hypertension patients, and the result
indicated that the Ryodoraku value, blood pressure, and
pulse rate were reduced after stimulating at Zusanli acupoints
(real LA with soft cupping) and placebo group (sham LA
[17]. In the study of Sancier, the subjects practiced QI
with soft cupping). After the diagnosis, each patient included
gong approximately five hours for two days, and the results
in the study was explained the procedure of study. Written
revealed that the balance of improvement of body energy for
informed consent was taken, and relevant history of each
the group was observed through the Ryodoraku value [18].
patient was recorded.
In 2005, Weng et al. used Ryodoraku to evaluate the effect of
tennis elbow pain and back pain [19, 20].
Furthermore, the LA plus soft cupping on the efficacy of 2.2. Procedure. All patients lied down on the bed in the
back pain has not been published yet. And to measure the room air-conditioned (25◦ C) and kept quiet. The protocol
Ryodoraku of the meridians of the subjects is a good way to in this study was followed in Figure 1. Every patient received
understand the variation of meridians before and after using one treatment (five continuous days). First, we recorded
laser acupuncture and soft cupping [15]. Thus, in this study, the visual analog scale and measured the Ryodoraku values
low level laser acupuncture and soft cupping were used to for all patients before the trial. Second, we used 4-channel
stimulate the patient’s acupoints, and Ryodoraku and VAS laser therapy instrument LA400 (manufactured by United
were used to evaluate the improvement of the symptoms of Integrated Services Co., Ltd., Taiwan) to treat Weizhong
chronic LBP. acupoints (BL40) on two feet and Ashi points on dorsal
for 10 minutes, see Figures 2 and 3. The sham group has
the same procedure as the laser group, however, without
2. Materials and Methods laser radiation. The two groups also received soft cupping
2.1. Subjects. A total of 60 patients of either sex with LBP treatment at the same time. After treatment the patients took
for at least three months were recruited in the study from a break of about 15 minutes; finally, we recorded the VAS and
Taipei Municipal Chung-Hsin Hospital. Ethical approval was measured the Ryodoraku values again.
granted by Taipei Municipal Chung-Hsin Hospital ethical
committee. All the patients were diagnosed by a doctor. 2.3. Instrument. The depth of penetration of laser varies with
The patients with other complications like heart attack, wavelength. Generally, near infrared light has deeper tissue
kidney problem, including pregnancy, were excluded from penetration than that of the visible light. The laser therapy
this study. They were randomly assigned to active group instrument LA-400 that operated with a pulsed laser beam
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 3

Table 1: Demographic data for the study groups.

Age Weight (Kg) Height (cm) BMI (kg/m2 )

Active
63.35 ± 11.23 69.04 ± 12.17 160.00 ± 8.74 26.98 ± 4.33
(n = 21)
Control
64.65 ± 13.57 64.41 ± 15.50 159.68 ± 9.26 25.07 ± 4.24
(n = 21)

The result reveals that the Ryodoraku values of 12

meridians were reduced by cupping in both groups. In active
group, most of the Ryodoraku values of 12 meridians were
Figure 3: The treatment combining LA with soft cupping in this reduced in the first day due to the combination of LA and
study. cupping. On the fifth day, most of the Ryodoraku values
of 12 meridians were raised back to almost original values
due to the irradiation of laser light. However, in placebo
group, most of the Ryodoraku values of 12 meridians were
(40 mW output power, wavelength 808 nm, spot size 0.8 cm2 , also reduced on the first day, but not obviously. On the fifth
pulse rate 20 Hz, 50% duty cycle of the pulse, 10 minutes day, most of the Ryodoraku values of 12 meridians were not
treatment) was used in this study. Thus, the dosage in this raised back to original values without the irradiation of laser
study is approximately 15 J/cm2 . light. In this study, Weizhong acupoint (BL40) which belongs
to bladder Meridian was chosen. It is worthy to mention
2.4. Measurement. A Ryodoraku measurement device, Hea- the variations of Ryodoraku value of Bladder Meridian after
lth Director, Model HD747, manufactured by Nay Yuan treatment in two groups. In active group, the Ryodoraku
technology Co., Ltd. in Taiwan, was used in this study. value of Bladder was raised back on the fifth day, but it
According to the instruction, when the current was less has not been raised back in placebo group. It means that
than 50 µA, it represented that the relative meridian was “cupping” plays “leak or purge” role in TCM, as shown in
“deficiency” syndrome, when the current was greater than Figure 5. And laser acupuncture plays “mend or reinforcing”
90 µA, it represented that the relative meridian was “excess” role in TCM.
syndrome. The average and standard error of such values The VAS scales of all patients are decreased in these two
were determined and expressed as “Mean ± STD” for groups after 5 times of treatment, but it had no significant
statistical analysis. difference between these two groups in each treatment,
see Figure 6 and Table 3. However, it had been statistically
significant (P < 0.01) for VAS compared with the first day
2.5. Statistical Analysis. The scores of VAS in each group and the fifth day in active group and placebo group, see
before and after the treatment were compared with paired- Tables 4 and 5. The results show that there were significant
sample t-test. The 12 meridians, lung, pericardium, heart, differences between the first day baseline and the fifth day
small intestine, triple energizer, large intestine, spleen, liver, treatment in VAS in the two groups.
kidney, bladder, gallbladder and stomach, of groups were
analyzed by using the paired-sample t-test. The difference
between the values of patients in the two groups measured 4. Discussion
before and after treatment was analyzed. All the statistical LBP was the most common disease in the world [21].
tests were two-tailed. A statistical significance was recognized 70%–85% people suffer LBP at some time in life, and the
as P value <0.05. prevalence per year was 15%–45% [22]. There are many
etiologies of LBP, for example, acute or chronic strain, sprain
3. Results contusion, and degenerative disease of lumbar spine. In
our study, most of the patients (42/60) were caused by
In this study, 60 patients who have chronic LBP were degenerative disease of lumbar spine and finally disc pain,
recruited, in total. 28 patients were recruited for active facet pain, or radicular pain happened; others (18/60) were
group of which 21 completed the study protocol. In the myofascial pain caused by sprain or strain injury. From TCM
control placebo (or sham) group, 29 patients were recruited point of view, Xiong et al. used factor analysis to explore
in total, but failure to complete was 8, see Figure 4 for patterns of symptoms and signs from patients with chronic
demographic details. There was no significant difference of low-back pain based on the TCM theory. They found that
age, weight, height, and BMI between the two groups as four factors were extracted from LBP patients, including (1)
shown in Table 1. After the collection of data, we compared Qi and/or blood stagnation, (2) cold/damp, (3) a part of
and analyzed the value of active group and placebo group. “kidney deficiency,” and (4) warm/heat [23]. The research of
Baseline measurements of 12 meridians showed that there Sherman et al. also showed that Qi and blood stagnation or
were no significant differences between these two groups as Qi stagnation was found for 85% of LBP patients and kidney
listed in Table 2. deficiency was found for 33–51% of LBP patients [24].
 4

Table 2: Comparisons between the Ryodoraku values of 12 meridians at baseline and that after therapy from the first day to the fifth day in two groups.
Active Placebo Active group Placebo group
12 meridians Baseline Combine LA with soft cupping Soft cupping
n = 21 First day First day First day Second day Third day Fourth day Fifth day First day Second day Third day Fourth day Fifth day
Before After After
Lung 47.55 ± 19.71 46.54 ± 18.71 35.25 ± 20.73∗ 37.13 ± 21.69 45.80 ± 26.33 35.74 ± 17.30 52.81 ± 24.37 40.24 ± 23.04 32.40 ± 19.65∗ 34.23 ± 19.81∗ 31.39 ± 18.71∗∗ 38.08 ± 2.86
Pericardium 43.47 ± 16.19 40.12 ± 17.22 34.42 ± 19.83 33.59 ± 20.38 41.24 ± 25.18 33.41 ± 19.55 42.48 ± 20.02 36.12 ± 19.65 29.31 ± 17.01∗ 30.34 ± 17.29∗ 29.58 ± 18.21∗∗ 33.50 ± 22.23
Heart 37.84 ± 13.51 35.96 ± 15.81 28.16 ± 16.19∗ 27.35 ± 16.14∗ 34.22 ± 16.54 28.30 ± 13.55∗ 35.44 ± 15.58 31.33 ± 16.93 24.92 ± 15.76∗ 25.76 ± 16.28∗ 24.74 ± 15.55∗∗ 29.73 ± 21.37
Small intestine 45.84 ± 16.61 41.74 ± 18.14 34.85 ± 20.43∗ 34.47 ± 21.38∗ 40.13 ± 22.14 35.46 ± 17.94 45.36 ± 21.79 37.11 ± 19.86 28.45 ± 17.30∗ 30.14 ± 17.79∗ 29.48 ± 19.86∗∗ 34.04 ± 21.93
Triple energizer 47.54 ± 22.36 45.08 ± 19.83 39.89 ± 23.45 40.08 ± 22.95 47.04 ± 26.78 39.27 ± 18.25 52.90 ± 27.02 38.18 ± 22.25 31.31 ± 18.96∗ 34.72 ± 18.94∗ 29.56 ± 18.36∗ 37.12 ± 20.08
Large intestine 46.33 ± 20.28 46.48 ± 19.65 29.23 ± 21.28 38.34 ± 20.22 47.17 ± 26.00 36.17 ± 14.98 50.29 ± 21.21 37.82 ± 22.04 30.60 ± 18.93 ∗∗ 34.71 ± 17.20∗ 31.77 ± 18.67∗∗ 35.24 ± 18.39∗
Spleen 36.86 ± 13.3 38.42 ± 23.62 28.02 ± 19.37∗∗ 30.76 ± 20.70 35.94 ± 24.89 29.53 ± 15.82 34.73 ± 19.97 29.17 ± 13.47 24.67 ± 15.31 22.03 ± 12.40∗∗ 24.12 ± 15.40∗ 24.65 ± 13.55∗
Liver 34.96 ± 15.12 33.96 ± 17.06 24.58 ± 18.91∗∗ 25.66 ± 18.49∗∗ 36.71 ± 24.23 26.55 ± 14.50 34.81 ± 20.47 29.06 ± 16.78 24.25 ± 14.85∗ 25.64 ± 16.01∗ 22.03 ± 15.64∗∗ 25.76 ± 15.85∗
Kidney 25.05 ± 13.27 30.23 ± 15.88 22.52 ± 18.19 25.04 ± 18.77 28.65 ± 20.06 24.19 ± 15.74 28.51 ± 16.36 28.58 ± 15.32 19.40 ± 13.58∗ 21.24 ± 13.87∗ 20.46 ± 13.40∗∗ 25.03 ± 16.22
Bladder 31.93 ± 12.37 32.93 ± 19.79 23.36 ± 16.94∗∗ 24.32 ± 17.66∗∗ 30.34 ± 20.63 25.76 ± 15.36∗ 28.08 ± 13.87 25.09 ± 12.50 22.43 ± 13.50 19.84 ± 12.48∗ 20.51 ± 12.52∗ 20.91 ± 12.05∗
Gallbladder 25.49 ± 12.59 27.66 ± 15.55 21.10 ± 17.01 22.75 ± 17.33 28.31 ± 19.03 23.90 ± 13.04 28.51 ± 17.49 25.62 ± 15.65 18.82 ± 12.11∗ 22.04 ± 14.84 19.74 ± 14.02∗ 21.78 ± 11.85
Stomach 31.27 ± 13.08 30.94 ± 16.74 21.10 ± 17.01 25.76 ± 18.59 33.02 ± 20.83 26.85 ± 16.13 29.15 ± 18.75 25.70 ± 14.03 21.23 ± 12.39∗ 23.63 ± 15.71∗ 21.90 ± 13.76∗ 21.72 ± 14.08∗
∗
P < 0.05 by paired-samples t-test.
∗∗ P < 0.01by paired-samples t-test.
Data are expressed as means ± standard deviation.
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 5

Assessed for eligibility

(n = 60)

Excluded (n = 3)
Enrollment Not meeting inclusion criteria
(n = 3)

Randomized

Active laser acupuncture with Sham laser acupuncture with

soft cupping soft cupping
(Active group) (Placebo group)
(n = 28) Allocation (n = 29)

Did not attend all the sessions Did not attend all the sessions
(n = 7) (n = 8)

Analyzed (n = 21) Analysis Analyzed (n = 21)

Figure 4: Consort flow diagram.

100 9
8
7
80
6
5
VAS

60
4
(µA)

3
40 2
1
0
20
1 2 3 4 5
(Day)
0 Active group
Baseline 1 2 3 4 5 Placebo group
(Day) Figure 6: Statistics and analysis VAS of patients after the treatment
Active group in two groups.
Placebo group

Figure 5: The change of Ryodoraku value of Bladder Meridian after Table 4: VAS comparison of active group.
treatment in two groups.
Active group
First day Fifth day P value
Table 3: Comparison of the two groups in VAS in each treatment. Before 6.25 ± 1.75 4.25 ± 1.72 0.000∗∗
Active group Placebo group P value After 5.00 ± 1.96 3.11 ± 1.54 0.000∗∗
∗∗
P < 0.01 by paired-samples t-test.
First day 5.00 ± 1.96 5.46 ± 1.96 0.214
Second day 4.60 ± 2.11 5.09 ± 2.12 0.182
Third day 4.03 ± 2.03 4.49 ± 1.96 0.126
LA was a kind of phototherapy at acupoint similar
Forth day 3.60 ± 1.58 3.85 ± 1.97 0.088 to needle acupuncture with different kind of perturbation
Fifth day 3.11 ± 1.54 3.20 ± 1.84 0.145 energy. Low level laser has been used for acupuncture
∗∗
P < 0.01 by paired-samples t-test. treatment to replace traditional acupuncture, and it had been
6 Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Table 5: VAS comparison of placebo group. the results indicated that LA combined with soft cupping at
the Weizhong acupoint and Ashi acupoint can relieve the
Placebo group
symptom of LBP. Therefore, treatment with LA and soft
First day Fifth day P value cupping at the Weizhong and Ashi acupoints was effective
Before 6.54 ± 2.05 3.72 ± 1.67 0.000∗∗ on LBP.
After 5.46 ± 1.96 3.20 ± 1.84 0.000∗∗
∗∗
P < 0.01 by paired-samples t-test. 5. Conclusion
After five days, the Ryodoraku values of some meridians
reported that LA was effective in many diseases, such as decreased significantly in placebo group. On the other hand,
osteoarthritis of the knees, a kind of degenerative disease most of the Ryodoraku values of twelve meridians changed
[12]. The near infrared laser range of about 600–1400 nm back to almost original values in active group. The cupping
was the most suitable wavelength for LA, because it can seems can “leak or purge” the relative meridians, its effect on
infiltrate the skin 2–5 mm, and dosage can be cumulated relieving low back pain is positive, but the relative meridians
if irradiating at the same location. So far, LA combined seem to be changed to deficiency syndrome. However, the
with soft cupping treatment on LBP has not been reported laser acupuncture can raise the Ryodoraku values of the
yet, but previous studies have shown that LA can stimulate relative meridians. Hence, the findings in this study found
acupuncture points [12]. In this study, 60 patients who that LA and soft cupping can be a suitable treatment choice
have chronic LBP were recruited from outpatient visits, for patients with LBP.
and 42 patients completed the trial. We recorded the VAS
and measured the Ryodoraku values for all patients before Acknowledgments
and after the treatment. There was no significant difference
between these two groups of Bladder Meridian before LA The authors wish to thank the Department of Health, Taipei
and soft cupping. But the Ryodoraku value in the active City Government, for its expenditure support (the applica-
group was decreased apparently; however, on the fifth day, tion number is 099XDAA00076). They also thank to United
it almost returned to original value after laser irradiation, Integrated Services Co., Ltd for instruments support.
which might be due to the dosage that was cumulated by LA.
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