Cupping therapy is a therapeutic technique that utilizes a vacuum force created beneath a small vessel applied onto the skin’s surface. This approach focuses on blood and autologous healing substances in a specific area, stimulating metabolic activity, improving immune function, and stabilizing blood biochemistry.[1]
History of Cupping Therapy
Cupping therapy has been a traditional practice dating back to ancient times. This therapy was practiced by the Egyptians and Macedonians around 5500 years ago, and Egyptians later introduced this method to the Greeks.[2] Cupping therapy was documented and endorsed in diverse civilizations, including China and Rome, as well as within the collective traditions (hadiths) of the Prophet Muhammad during the initial 6 centuries of the Common Era. Over time, cupping therapy extended to numerous parts of the world and has been consistently utilized, except in the United States, where it declined in popularity during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. [2]
Cupping has traditionally carried folkloric, cultural, religious, and spiritual significance within various societies. Within certain traditional Muslim communities, adhering to specific ceremonial practices was believed to improve treatment outcomes, resulting in regulations restricting the anatomical regions where cupping could be administered.[3] In traditional Eastern Medicine, cupping therapy was closely associated with acupuncture, whereas in Taoism, it was used to harmonize Qi by balancing Yin (negative energy) and Yang (positive energy).[1] In India, Ayurvedic medicine also incorporates a blood detoxification technique known as Ghati yantra, which bears similarities to wet cupping.[1] In certain less-dominant cultural and religious traditions, shamanic leaders utilized the cupping method to safeguard their communities from illnesses believed to be of demonic origin.[2]
Techniques of Cupping Therapy
Cupping is typically categorized into 2 primary procedures—wet and dry cupping. In both techniques, containers made from various materials are used to create a vacuum over a specific area of the skin. However, suction is applied in a wet cupping procedure to draw small quantities of blood and extracellular fluid from the body, typically after creating minor incisions or superficial skin abrasions, often in significantly smaller amounts than conventional bloodletting practices.[4]
Wet cupping, a traditional procedure, continues to be practiced in various regions, including China, Korea, and parts of Eastern Europe. In regions of the Middle East and Northern Africa, this practice is called Al-Hijamah in Arabic, which can be loosely translated as “restoring the body to its natural state.”[1][4][5]
In recent years, cupping practices have evolved, resulting in their classification into 5 primary categories:
- Technical types: Cupping therapy encompasses a range of technical types, which include dry, wet, flash, and massage cupping types.[4]
- Power of suction: Cupping therapy can be applied with varying degrees of suction, typically categorized as light, medium, strong, or pulsatile suction.[4]
- Methods of suction: Cupping therapy can be performed using different methods, such as fire, manual, and electrical vacuum cupping methods.[4]
- Additional therapies: Cupping therapy can be combined with other therapies, including needle, mona, herbal, magnetic, laser, electrical stimulation, water, and aquatic cupping procedures.[4]
- Conditions and area-specific: Cupping therapy can be customized to address particular conditions and target-specific areas, including cosmetic, sports-related, orthopedic, abdominal, facial, and gender-specific cupping therapies for females and males.[4]
Although wet and dry cupping techniques remain relevant in contemporary medicine, a meta-analysis of cupping therapy’s effectiveness in managing back pain indicated that most studies meeting inclusion criteria primarily focused on dry cupping. This preference is likely attributed to the noninvasive nature of dry cupping than wet cupping. The potential advantages of reduced invasiveness outweighed the additional physiological impact that wet cupping might offer.[6]
