Cupping Therapy: Uses, Benefits, and More: Does Cupping Therapy Work? Side Effects, Benefits & Types

 Hijama or Cupping therapy is the ancient practice of medical treatment, in which therapists put cups on your skin for a matter of few minutes to create suction.

The ultimate goal of this therapy is to get relief from mental tensions including pain and inflammation. Hijama helps in the proper regulation of blood, quite similar to deep tissue massage.

Hijama/Cupping Therapy

The Hijama cups are made of 

• Bamboo
• Silicone
• Earthenware
• Glass

Hijama therapy is trending now, but it has too old history. It was also performed back in Chinese, Egyptian, and Middle Eastern culture.

1. What is Hijama?

Hijama is also known as wet cupping, used to treat a wide range of issues like migraines and hay fever. The procedure includes cutting skin and drawing out blood with suction cups.

Hijama is also used for the treatment of blood disorders, such as anemia and hemophilia. According to the British Cupping Society, rheumatic diseases like arthritis, fibromyalgia fertility, and gynecological disorders are treated well with cupping.

2. Hijama Cupping Points:

The most frequent question asked by many patients and practitioners to the therapist is that 

Q. Is there any specific base for underlying specific sites for performing Hijama?

Q. Do the therapeutic outcomes change on using different sites?

Q. Does those sites differ from disease to disease?

A little research is existed to answer these questions, we can get answers on understanding the basics of Hijama. For the general guide, the therapist put suction cups near anatomically possible to disease tissue to facilitate excretion of excess tissue fluids, intravascular tissues, or CPS.

Cupping Points

For Example, the excretion of bacterial toxins and bacteria in cupped blood. Cupping therapy done over the inflamed cellulitis region dramatically relieved the inflammatory and toxic processes through excreting bacteria and bacterial toxins in cupped blood in sucking in addition to sucking edema fluid.

The scientific basis for selecting anatomical sites for Hijama or cupping therapy depends on the primary site of pathology, its distribution, and the degree of therapeutic benefits gained from blood and interstitial fluid clearance. The degree of clearance can be enhanced by the number, size, and pressure (to some extent) of cups.

The performance of Hijama or cupping therapy indicates treatment of more than one disease with variable etiologies and pathogenesis through non-specific excretion of each disease. The therapist should remove hair from the area to be cupped to ensure a perfect sterile atmosphere with no liability of the existence of hair (foreign body) at the skin puncture site. This is expected to facilitate easy rapid healing of skin scarifications done in the process of Hijama.

3. Types of Hijama:

There are two basic types of Hijama, dry cupping, and wet cupping. Each of these types will be explained thoroughly in detail.

(I). Dry Cupping:

Dry cupping involves only the suction method. The therapist puts inflammable substances inside such as alcohol, paper, and herbs, and ignites them briefly. As the fire fades, the cup is placed on the infected skin, cup cools and raises your skin into the cup. Shortly after this action, the skin will redden and blood vessels will expand. The cup is left in place for about 3-5 minutes.

Modern methods use vacuum pumps instead of flammables to produce a cupping effect. You might get one cup in the first session, but the treatment involves 3-5 cups in the fruitful session.

Most therapists think that this method works by causing hyperemia (increase blood in tissues and organs) or hemostasis (a process of preventing or stopping bleeding) to achieve desirable effects for treatments.

(II). Wet Cupping:

Wet cupping involves both suction and controlled medicinal bleeding procedures. The procedure involves a cup placement, skin is punctured and blood is drawn out into cups in the suction process. One study suggests that wet cupping may help kidneys to clear heavy metals and extra wastes from the body.

In both treatments, cupping leaves round bruises on your skin which will clear up in almost 10 days. The ointment may be applied to prevent infection. You may receive multiple treatments depending upon the condition being treated.

4. Chinese Cupping:

Cupping is a Chinese traditional treatment to get relief from pain and other tissues. In this process, a person gets bruises on his body. The Chinese oil is applied on the surface before cupping, just to make the proper flow of blood. Alcohol is on the cotton is fired, this fire helps in the removal of oxygen from the cup and creates a proper suction. You need these cups to be stationary or move them slightly on the surface just to make sure the flow of blood. Redness will come up on the skin means blood is circulating.

Chinese Receiving Cupping Therapy

The deep tissue massage really helps in relaxing the body, most issues in the lower back. The cups are placed for about 5 minutes just to keep the smooth flow of blood and relax your body. Cupping is a traditional method in China, with technology cups, are placed tightly with a suction gun on the body surface. Great suction creates a better vacuum on the body, a heater is placed above the suction cups to relax the tissues. At the end of cupping, essential oil is applied t relax the tissues, muscles, and help in blood circulation.

The bruises approximately take 5-10 days to recover, the patient is advised to cover these bruises. The more hydration causes the body pores to open, in some cases infection chances increases.

5. Egyptian Cupping:

Cupping is too old in the history of East and China almost 2000 years, introduced to the western world from Egypt. Dating back to 1550 BC, Ebers Cyprus mention cupping for removing the foreign matter from the body.

Egypt cupping therapy offers both medical and cosmetic use. Egyptian cupping spread to Greece where both Galens and Hippocrates were strong advocates of its use.

Cupping therapy lost popularity with the advancement in pharmaceutical-based medicine. Now, getting more popular as people showing more interest in natural holistic, non-invasive forms of health and beauty treatments.

6. Hijama's Side Effects:

There are no major side effects associated with cupping. You feel side effects typically after treatment or immediately. Some of the key side effects are:

1. You may feel dizzy or lightened during treatment, also experience nausea or sweating.

2. After treatment, a rim of the cup may leave scars on the skin that irritates marked in a circular pattern. You may feel pain at incision sites after your session.

3. Infection is a major risk after treatment, the risk is small if your therapist follows the right method to clean your skin and controlling infection before and after the session.

4. Practioniter should wear an apron, disposable gloves, and eye protection. Equipment should be clean before the session to avoid diseases like Hepatitis.