What is cupping therapy used for?

 

Cupping therapy is an ancient form of alternative medicine in which a therapist puts special cups on your skin for a few minutes to create suction. People get it for many purposes, including to help with pain, inflammation, blood flow, relaxation and well-being, and as a type of deep-tissue massage.

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What is cupping in Chinese medicine?

 

According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) cupping is a method of creating a vacuum on the patient's skin to dispel stagnation — stagnant blood and lymph, thereby improving qi flow [citation needed] — to treat respiratory diseases such as the common cold, pneumonia and bronchitis.

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Where did cupping come from?

 

People practiced fire cupping in Europe, Asia and Africa for thousands of years. It isn't clearly a Chinese invention. The Ebers Papyrus that is one of the oldest medical textbooks in the world describes that in 1550 B.C. the Egyptians used cupping.