Objective To compare the therapeutic effects of tapping cupping

fire needling and oral western medicine on lateral femoral cutaneous neuritis.Methods Ninety cases of lateral femoral cutaneous neuritis were randomized into a tapping cupping group

fire needling group and control group

with 30in each.The control group was given 500μg methylcobalamin and 300mg ibuprofen capsule orally

twice daily for 30days.The tapping cupping group and fire needling group was treated with tapping cupping therapy and fire needling respectively

once 3days

5times as one treatment course and resting for 4days after one course of treatment.The treatment lasted for two courses.The degree of pain

time of pain relief and duration of pain were recorded.The ipsilateral and contralateral nerve conduction velocity was detected in three groups.The therapeutic effects in three groups were compared after treatment.Results The total effective rate of tapping cupping group

fire needling group and control group was 90.0%

93.3%and 70.0%respectively.The total effective rate of tapping cupping group and fire needling group was higher than that of the control group（P<0.05）

but with no significant difference between tapping cupping group and fire needling group（P>0.05）.Comparing with the control group

the tapping cupping group and fire needling group could significantly improve the degree of pain

time of pain relief and nerve conduction velocity（P<0.05）

but with no significant difference between the tapping cupping group and fire needling group（P>0.05）.Conlcusion The tapping cupping therapy and fire needling are better than western medicine for lateral femoral cutaneous neuritis.The therapeutic effect of tapping cupping therapy is similar to that of fire needling.