Over the past thousands of years, cupping has been used in Egyptian, Chinese, and Middle Eastern cultures, but there has been an increase of people worldwide adopting this therapy. Traditional cupping therapy has been used to promote healing and alleviate musculoskeletal pain, inflammation, dermatological conditions, migraines, chemical imbalances, and increase blood circulation. In recent years celebrities and athletes, such as Michael Phelps during the 2016 Summer Olympics, have popularized cupping and increased the amount of researchers and clinicians to investigate its effectiveness (Shmerling, 2020).
There are two primary types of cupping therapy: wet and dry. Dry cupping is done by placing cups made of either glass, silicon, or bamboo onto the desired skin area, creating a subatmospheric or negative pressure via heat or suction to create a vacuum. This causes the skin and its underlying tissues to be drawn up into the cup. The cups are left on for a duration of 3-5 minutes causing a circular shaped discoloration to the skin from breaking of tiny blood vessels underneath (Stephens, Selkow, & Hoffman, 2020). The cups are then removed and a skin disinfectant is used to clean the skin region of cupping, and these round bruise-like areas of discoloration fade within a week or two. Wet cupping is performed in a similar fashion to dry cupping, however prior to the cups being placed, a small superficial incision or puncture is made over the desired area in order to draw out noxious materials and waste from the body.
The suctioning of the skin and tissues into the cup is thought to increase localized blood flow to the area and enhance tissue healing by promoting capillary endothelial cell repair, formation of new blood vessels, and reduced perceived pain (Al-Bedah, et al., 2019). It is also thought to be an effective method of reducing low density lipoprotein (LDL) in men and a preventative effect against atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases (Al-Bedah, et al., 2019). Wet cupping is specifically performed to remove noxious materials from skin microcirculation in the dermis and hypodermis layers and its interstitial compartments which aids to decrease the damage to enzymes, promote energy, and increase protection from oxidative stress. In support of this, a pilot study performed by Umar, Tursunbadalov, Surgun, Welcome, & Dane, demonstrated that venous blood levels of some heavy toxic metals decreased significantly 30 days after wet cupping therapy compared to the blood levels before therapy (2018). Though more research and studies need to be performed to contribute to the effectiveness of cupping therapy, it is a non-invasive form of treatment that is cost beneficial to patients as therapy treatments are roughly $30-$80 per session or a purchase of a cupping therapy set is estimated at $30 (Shmerling, 2020).
Growing up in an Asian-American household, my family members and I practice dry cupping therapy regularly. In our household, it is used primarily when one is feeling “under the weather”, experiencing a mild cold, or for back pain. Cupping therapy is an ancient form of treatment practiced for thousands of years and is growing in popularity worldwide. So, would you try cupping therapy?
References
Al-Bedah, A. M., Elsubai, I. S., Qureshi, N. A., Aboushanab, T. S., Ali, G. I., El-Olemy, A. T., Khalil, A. A., Khalil, M. K., & Alqaed, M. S. (2019). The medical perspective of cupping therapy: Effects and mechanisms of action. Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine, 9(2), 90–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtcme.2018.03.003
Shmerling, R. H. (2020, June 22). What exactly is cupping? Harvard Health Publishing. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/what-exactly-is-cupping-2016093010402
Stephens, S. L., Selkow, N. M., & Hoffman, N. L. (2020). Dry Cupping Therapy for Improving Nonspecific Neck Pain and Subcutaneous Hemodynamics. Journal of Athletic Training, 55(7), 682–690. https://doi.org/10.4085/1062-6050-236-19
Umar, N. K., Tursunbadalov, S., Surgun, S., Welcome, M. O., & Dane, S. (2018). The Effects of Wet Cupping Therapy on the Blood Levels of Some Heavy Metals: A Pilot Study. Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies, 11(6), 375–379. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jams.2018.06.005
Prior to reading this post, I never knew the difference between the two types of cupping, nor did I know that there are two different types. I, myself, have never tried cupping, but after reading this post and looking into it a bit more, I might, one day, try wet cupping. I found a journal titled “Wet-cupping removes oxidants and decreases oxidative stress” that elaborates a bit more on the oxidative stress, like you mentioned in your post, since that intrigued me. Our bodies can create free oxygen radicals, and even though these radicals and their excess production may cause oxidative damage on biological molecules, cell membranes and tissues, their generation is inevitable for some metabolic processes (Tagil et al. 2014). The authors then go on to say that these radicals can cause some seriously damaging effects to our bodies, effects which wet cupping is most generally used for, in turn removing oxidants from the body and decreasing oxidative stress (Tagil et al. 2014). You mentioned in your post that you and your family practice dry cupping regularly – do you practice wet cupping at all, since it can remove toxic materials out of your body, almost “detoxifying” you in a sense? It also seems like this is a good method for when you’re “under the weather,” or for when you’re battling something more serious, etc. Do you think this method is beneficial to those with cancer? Would it work?
ReplyDeleteReference:
Tagil, Suleyman Murat, et al. “Wet-Cupping Removes Oxidants and Decreases Oxidative Stress.” Complementary Therapies in Medicine, vol. 22, no. 6, 2014, pp. 1032–1036., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2014.10.008.
In the past year, I have been impressed by the cupping therapy technique, and have found it to be quite beneficial. The one thing that caught me off guard was the discoloration of my skin 24-48hrs later. My therapist failed to inform me of this outcome. I had to make sure my neck and shoulders were covered thoroughly to keep people from secretly supposing I had some passionate hot night with a lover. Lol! It was the middle of summer so being covered this way was a difficult task. Other than this surprise, I am very captivated by ancient medicine. Egypt, as one of the oldest civilizations, is widely known for its astute medical practices. Egyptians had advanced knowledge of anatomy and surgery, thus treating dental, gynecological, gastrointestinal and urinary diseases by employing therapeutics. Organic material of plants, minerals, and animal products were used to facilitate treatment (Hartmann, 2016). Delving more into these ancient cultures could provide us more insight on medicine and therapy (Gordetsky and O'Brien, 2009). These ancient techniques were hardly invasive, and very low in cost. For instance, moldering bread had properties comparable to that of penicillin. Using a technique such as this could be advantageous to the antibiotic resistant crisis (Hartmann, 2016).
ReplyDeleteHey Vi,
ReplyDeleteI’ve never done any research into the science behind cupping but it makes sense that increased blood flow to an area would promote localized recovery. It is an idea that is starkly counter to the Ice, Compression, and Elevation (ICE) instructions that most athletes have heard at one point in their lives. Singh et al. (2017) researched how cryotherapy would affect soft-tissue injuries and muscle recovery using rats. Not surprisingly, they found an increase in immature myofibers relative to their control group indicating that the icing did not promote recovery of the muscles. This makes sense because the blood is not there to deliver the recovery factors that promote healing. However, their results also indicated that there was no significant long-term effects (past 28 days) in muscle growth. I’d be interested to see cupping used similarly in a study on muscle recovery since it’s the opposite idea: pull more blood to the area for a short amount of time. Singh et al. (2017) delayed 20 minutes before applying ice for 5 minutes directly to the contusion. Maybe dry cupping for 3-5 minutes would be a better alternative? Or a combination of both? Dry cup for 3 minutes, then let the skin and injury site “rest” before applying ice. I would be curious to see if there is any significant difference in total recovery time and perceived pain.
Being ABC, I’ve known about cupping for a while but don’t know anyone who has done it in my family or extended relatives. My grandparents used to always suggest Tiger Balm for our cure-all treatment, but I’m curious as to how well either type of cupping would do instead for the typical pains/ailments. I’ve done various recovery treatments from ICE to doing nothing but I think it might be time to try dry cupping. I’m not fond of needles so personally, I’m going to stick with my metals and avoid wet cupping.
Singh, D. P., Barani Lonbani, Z., Woodruff, M. A., Parker, T. J., Steck, R., & Peake, J. M. (2017). Effects of topical icing on inflammation, angiogenesis, revascularization, and myofiber regeneration in skeletal muscle following contusion injury. Frontiers in Physiology: Striated Muscle Physiology. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2017.00093.
I have used the dry cupping technique plenty of times during my college soccer career and I think it works wonders, However I was unaware of the origin of it which I found very interesting. What really shocked me though was the concept of wet cupping, which is something I've never heard of. I immediately looked into this more because I thought the idea of puncturing the skin seemed a bit scary to me. I found a study that specifically talked about the effects of wet cupping on the blood levels of Al, Zn, and Cd. As you said heavy metals are recognized in the blood as toxins. This study showed that hopping makes a significant difference in these levels and wet cupping has a excretory effect on the kidney (Nafisa et al, 2018). I found this so interesting that a technique done to the surface of the skin could have an effect on the kidneys. Although these are some pretty incredible finding, I think for now ill stick to dry cupping, but it is good to know of how beneficial wet cupping can be.
ReplyDeleteUmar, N. K., Tursunbadalov, S., Surgun, S., Welcome, M. O., & Dane, S. (2018). The effects of wet cupping therapy on the blood levels of some heavy metals: A pilot study. Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies, 11(6), 375–379. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jams.2018.06.005
This is pretty cool Vi!
ReplyDeleteWhen I first learned of the cupping therapy performed by athletes such as Michael Phelps I was skeptical. Mostly because it looked unfamiliar. However now that I am more knowledgeable on the subject, I think I would be willing to test the benefits of dry cupping at some point. I find it’s benefits towards musculoskeletal pain most intriguing as I have a history of lower back pain, which I have still not yet found an association to. Looking further into research addressing this particular benefit, a study from Akbarzadeh et al. (2014) investigated the effects of dry cupping on postpartum low back pain and found positive results. In this study dry cupping was performed for a 15-20 minute period 4 times a day and was able to show significant decrease in low back pain of women immediately after labor (8 hours postpartum).
In addition, I think expansion of different culturally based health practices is necessary for it allows us to broaden our options for treating things such as pain, as seen in your post. As we know cultural diversity in the United States is greater than other regions and thus incorporating other cultural health therapies could be of potential interest to the growing ethnic groups within our country.
Sources:
Akbarzadeh, M., Ghaemmaghami, M., Yazdanpanahi, Z., Zare, N., Azizi, A. & Mohagheghzadeh, A. (2014). The Effect Dry Cupping Therapy at Acupoint BL23 on the Intensity of Postpartum Low Back Pain in Primiparous Women Based on Two Types of Questionnaires, 2012; A Randomized Clinical Trial. Int J Community Based Nurs Midwifery, 2(2), 112-120. https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.dml.regis.edu/pmc/articles/PMC4201191/