As I mentioned in my previous post, cupping can be done in two ways: dry or wet. Although dry cupping is the more common procedure used by athletes, wet cupping also has a fan following. Interestingly, both therapeutic approaches originated in ancient times, and apparently separately. Wet cupping derived from a distinctly different therapy called bloodletting which was very common in antiquity. In other words, I think modern wet cupping might be a combination of the ancient therapies of cupping and bloodletting (will need to dig deeper for confirmation of this fact).
Wet cupping is similar to dry cupping in that it creates a mild suction by leaving a cup in place for a few minutes, but it is followed by the therapist making a tiny cut on the skin using a small scalpel. A second suction on top of that area draws out blood- a small quantity, but significant nonetheless! Although I would be too freaked out to try it, it has its supporters, and a recent study even found that it might be effective in cleaning kidneys and blood of dangerous heavy metals.
Incisions made during wet cupping technique (top), blood collected by cupping (bottom) |
Wet cupping is used extensively in the Arabic world under the name Hijama, and also in China as a part of TCM (traditional Chinese medicine). Its origin is again unclear but it was popular in both ancient Egypt and China. A similar technique of removing blood but without cups called bloodletting was very popular in antiquity. More on that separately.
Sources
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2005290118300748
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