Abstract：Objective：To observe the clinical effect of wrist-ankle acupuncture combined with balance cupping on acute lumbar sprain. Methods：A total of 124 patients with acute lumbar sprain were divided into the control group and the observation group according to the random number table method，with 62 cases in each group. The control group was given routine western medicine， and the observation group was treated with wrist-ankle acupuncture combined with balance cupping. The two groups were treated for 7 days. The clinical effects，scores of Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain，lumbar mobility，and scores of Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) for the lumbar function in the two groups were compared. The levels of serum thromboxane B2 (TXB2)，cyclooxygenase- 2 (COX-2)，granulocyte-macrophage colonystimulating factor (GM-CSF) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in both groups were measured. Results： The total effective rate was 91.94% in the observation group， higher than that of 79.03% in the control group， the difference being significant (P＜0.05). After treatment， the scores of VAS for pain in the two groups were decreased when compared with those before treatment (P＜0.05)，and the score of VAS for pain in the observation group was lower than that in the control group (P＜0.05). After treatment， the lumbar mobility of right rotation，left rotation，forward flexion and backward extension in the two groups were increased when compared with that before treatment (P＜0.05)， and the lumbar mobility of right rotation， left rotation， forward flexion and backward extension in the observation group was higher than that in the control group (P＜0.05). After treatment，the scores of limitation of daily activities，clinical signs and subjective symptoms in both groups were increased when compared with those before treatment (P＜ 0.05)，and the above three scores in the observation group were higher than those in the control group (P＜ 0.05). After treatment， the levels of serum TXB2， COX- 2， GM- CSF and TNF- α in both groups were decreased when compared with those before treatment (P＜0.05)， and the above four levels in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P＜0.05). Conclusion：The therapy of wristankle acupuncture combined with balance cupping has a definite curative effect on acute lumbar sprain， which can significantly mitigate the pain，improve the lumbar mobility，enhance the lumbar function，and may be related to the improvement of microcirculation of blood and anti- inflammation by regulating the contents of involved factors in serum，including TXB2，COX-2，GM-CSF and TNF-α.