Service Details

Cupping

History of cupping therapy

• Cupping therapy might be trendy now, but it’s not new. It dates back to ancient Egyptian, Chinese, and Middle Eastern cultures. One of the oldest medical textbooks in the world, the Ebers Papyrus from 1550 B.C., describes how the ancient Egyptians used cupping therapy for treating fever, pain, vertigo, menstrual problems, and other ailments.
• The Egyptians introduced cupping to the ancient Greeks who used it as a cure for almost every illness. In traditional Chinese medicine, it's closely linked to acupuncture. The Islamic Prophet Muhammad also recommended cupping in his writings, where he called it hijama. 
• Originally, hollowed-out animal horns were used to treat boils and suck out venom from snake bites. Eventually, horns were replaced by bamboo and then by glass cups.

Types of Cupping Therapy

The two main types of cupping are:

• Dry

Dry cupping is simple and is the preferred method in the West because it's easy to do and doesn't involve blood. The therapist just applies the cups to your skin, compressing them with their hands, a pump, or a flame if using glass cups. (They may apply lotion first). They leave the cups in place for 5-10 minutes. You can have this therapy done as often as once or twice a week.

• Wet

In wet cupping, your therapist first creates a mild suction by leaving a cup on your back for about 3 minutes. They remove the cup and use a small scalpel to make light, tiny cuts on your skin. Next, they do a second suction to draw out a small quantity of blood. They might leave those cups in place for 10-15 minutes.

Cupping Therapy Side Effects

Cupping is fairly safe, as long as you go to a trained professional. But you could have the following side effects in the area(s) where the cups touch your skin:

• Mild discomfort
• Burns
• Bruises
• Skin infection

If the cups and equipment become contaminated with blood and aren't sterilized correctly between patients, blood borne diseases such as hepatitis B and C can be spread.

Burns from cupping

Burns from fire cupping are a hazard but seem to be rare. Overheating the cup is usually the problem. An Australian study looked at 18,703 patients enrolled in the Burns Registry of Australia and New Zealand over a 7-year period and found just 20 had cupping-associated burn injuries. Sixteen of these occurred at home. Still, more people could have been burned but not badly enough to go to a hospital. There have been some other reports of people getting burned at cupping clinics.