Botanica WestHolistic Healing & Therapy from a Master Herbalist

Above:  Modern Suction Cupping

Many have seen the round strange round hickeys before, perhaps recently on a couple of well known celebrities, but why do people have cupping done and what benefit does it have?

The  cultures  that do cupping include Asian, Mexican, French  Vietnam, the Balkans, much of Europe, modern Greece, Cyprus, Mexico, Russia and Poland.

In Poland, it is referred to as banki (singular banka) and in Iran it is called ‘bod-kesh’, meaning ‘pull with air’.

Cupping was also commonly used as a Eastern European Jewish folk remedy known by the Yiddish name, באנקעס (bankes)

I’m familiar mainly in Mexican Ventosa and Chinese cupping which the French call Ventouse.

Today, cupping is still used for respiratory disease, heart problems, kidney deficiency, as well as digestive and gynecological disorders, headaches and dizziness, and blood and lymphatic blockages.

The common cold and chest congestion can be tackled with cupping, as can insomnia and, of course, scars and soft tissue injuries.

The bruises or redness  resulting from cupping are not painful and only last a couple of hours but can be seen from one to three days depending on the amount of blood stagnation. Sometimes the rings can be blackish red and purple. Each color and state represents different things.

If you are game and want to experience this therapy for yourself, be sure to go to a trained or experienced practitioner; someone who can tell where you need a bit of extra energy and where you don’t.

If you don’t the incorrect treatment may increase swelling and blood flow within the cupping area that already has excess and so it can make matters worse.

Leave cupping to those who are experienced in such matters.

The patient shown in these cupping photos has excess heart chi and kidney deficiency.

She suffers from angina and the medication her doctor gave her caused her urine flow to slow dramatically and caused her blood pressure to raise.

In addition, she suffered from severe neck, back, and leg pain which caused insomnia.

There are different forms of cupping and it’s good to know the difference.

One of the oldest Asian forms of cupping was done with hollowed out animal horn, small pottery cups, and bamboo tubes–which some practitioners still like to dabble in.

ITS KINDA COOL!!

I like to play with the ancient tools myself and personally own a set of Chinese glass fire cups and a modern hand pumped plastic cupping set.

My training came from a Curandera who used baby food jars that came in three sizes. I continued the tradition with yogurt sold in glass jars (Trader Joes).

I bought the yogurt orignally only because the jars were great for fire cupping–but the yogurt wasn’t half bad either.

Lets talk about the most common forms of cupping.

Fire cupping – A vacuum is created by air heated by fire in a glass cup placed flush against the patient’s skin. As the air cools in the cup, a vacuum forms that pulls up on the skin, stimulating the acupressure effect.

A practitioner can swab rubbing alcohol (minimum 90%) into the bottom of a cup, then light it and place the cup immediately against the skin.

The seal extinguishes the fire by cutting off its oxygen supply, preventing the person from being burned.

The smaller the amount of alcohol, and the quicker the flame is extinguished by application of the cup, the better, as long as there is no risk of the cups falling off due to a poor seal.

Some experienced cuppers prefer the use of kerosene over alcohol, claiming it provides better ignition and thus greater suction.

I personally use alcohol since it extinguishes itself faster and is not as smelly or oily and because there is less chance of burning the patient.

I work fast and have a lot of cupping experience under my belt. My procedure is to hold the cup inverted over a flame (e.g. a lit candle, or as I prefer, a hand held long gas lighter), heating the air within it, before placing the the cup against the skin.

Care must be taken not to heat the glass itself especially around the lip or the edge of the cup.

Even so, the person to whom the cup is applied will feel distinctly more heat than in the previous method.

I make sure their is non flammable oil or water based lotion on the skin before applying the cup.

Coining- One can ignite a flame with a small alcohol-soaked cotton wad resting on a coin or a small pad of leather or other insulating material that rests directly on the patient’s skin, then place the cup immediately over the flame, putting out the fire.

The quickness with which the flame is extinguished depends on the size and shape of the cup. This is a little harder to control and when the skin raises if the cotton ball is not formed right then it can roll off and cause a problem. (YA THINK!)

Coining was a common method used to extract venom from a snake bite without having to suck it out by mouth. All you needed was a glass, a silver dollar, some torn cloth, whiskey and a fire source–and hopefully a bullet to bite on.

Wet cupping or bloodletting-I recently found out it is also a traditional healing method in Arab cultures where it is called Al-hijamah.

In this alternative form of blood letting, also called blood cupping, a small scratch or incision is made with a lancet prior to the cupping, and the pressure difference extracts blood from the skin.

Islamic traditional medicine uses this technique is called hijamah or hijama.

The hijama method cautions against over cupping, cupping in the lying down position and sleeping or resting following any cupping procedure, claiming that the one real danger of cupping is the potential risk of blood clotting following a procedure.

Patients are instructed that they should take a brisk thirty minute walk following any cupping treatment. When properly performed, using tiny incisions and not leaving the cups on longer than necessary, cupping leaves no marks or scarring.

While the history of wet cupping may date back thousands of years, the first claimed documented uses are found in the teachings of Muhammad.

According to Imams Bukhari, Muslim and Ahmad, Muhammad approved of the hijama (cupping) treatment.

This treatment was usually recommended for headache or leg aches. It is believed that Muhammad himself underwent hijama for his lumbar pains..

This form of bloodletting treatment is also performed by the Chinese as well.

Now let’s explore the more modern forms.

Suction Cupping- This is a more modern method that is fire free and usually uses a hand held air pump to remove the air from the plastic cup and latches onto the skin with more controlled pressure.

There are others with rubber bulb ends that are also attached to plastic cups and are smaller in size that are used for the face and neck.

Fire seems to be a little scary for American patients and these are a safer alternative for the newer practitioners.

Massage cupping -This is a variation of the older forms of cupping and this technique and is used in scar repair, face lifting, and lymph drainage besides removing inflammation.

There is a new resurgance of this form of therapy and cupping massage leaves little to no marks on the skin because the cup is no longer stationary but after it is securely attached to the body it glides accross the skin on a bed of oil, lotion or a water based skin product and move blood stagnation and swelling away from offending areas of the body.

By pulling tissue up and away from the body instead on into and breaking up toxins as done in massaging muscle tissue. The swelling and toxins are moved away from the area so the blood and lymph system can carry it away and dispose of it.

There is a school that now teaches and certifies it.

I hope this article answers some questions you may have regarding this ancient and now modernized healing art and perhaps one day you can experience it.

Helene Gentili C.R.M.T. Curandera