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Wet Cupping

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.webmd.com/balance/guide/cupping-therapy
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2005290118300748


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