Cupping Therapy—an Ancient Art of Healing

Cupping therapy, otherwise known as Hijama therapy is an age-long therapy involving the use of special cups to create suctions on the skin and subsequently get rid of toxins from the body. During a cupping procedure, negative pressures are used to loosen muscles, encourage blood flow and sedate the nervous system.

The history of cupping therapy dates back to the ancient Chinese period, over 2,000 years ago. Given its remarkable health benefits, the practice has been adopted by various continents across the globe. It is a common therapy across Asia, Europe, Middle East, and Africa and across the Western world. As a crucial part of alternative medicine, Hijama training centers and institutes are common in the United Kingdom and China.

Although there are different types of cupping including dry, wet and fire cupping, the most therapeutic of them is wet cupping in which incisions are made on the skin to remove wastes products of metabolism, disease-causing substances, and disease-related substances. Evidence have shown that cupping is most beneficial in the treatment of musculoskeletal conditions such as fibromyalgia, back pain, cervical spondylosis, and osteoarthritis, among others. Other conditions that can be effectively treated with cupping include hypertension, headache and migraine, irritable bowel syndrome, reproductive and respiratory diseases, and skin disorders.

Of course, there are a number of rules that must be strictly adhered to in order to derive maximum benefits from the therapy. If properly applied, cupping has been found to help boost immunity, prevent the onset of diseases and treat a number of existing health challenges. The rule of thumb is to locate a trained and licensed therapist who will seek the medical history and blood tests to determine whether or not cupping is suitable for a patient at a period of time. There are numerous misconceptions about this holistic practice. The therapist will clarify them all.

A common misconception is that once you start getting cupped; you would have to continue perpetually. Nothing can be further from the truth than this. The goal of a quintessential therapist is not to place patients on therapy till eternity, but to perform it only when required. There are a number of clinics in the United Arab Emirates offering cupping therapy as part of their treatment modality.

(Credit: Yusuf Olatunji M. is a certified and seasoned cupping therapist and naturopath. He tweets on @yusuflatunji. (website)