Chinese medicine uses many ways to heal; acupuncture, herbal medicine, massage and diet therapy are the most commonly used, and Chinese medicine is gaining popularity. Maybe some of you saw a photo a few years ago of Gwyneth Paltrow on the red carpet with a brainless dress and bags all over her back? Sometimes it takes a bit of popular culture to remind us of ancient healing methods!
Cupping therapy has been used in China for thousands of years. At first it was applied using cattle or transverse cuts of bamboo. To create negative pressure inside the horn or bamboo, these ancient “cups”, where they were boiled in water or fire, were ignited to force the air out and suck the cups onto the skin. These cups were used primarily to extract pus and blood in boil treatment. Cupping was originally used as an auxiliary method in traditional Chinese surgery. Later it was found that it is useful in the treatment of other diseases and develops into a special therapeutic method.
The earliest cupping record is in Bo Shu (an ancient book written on silk), which was discovered in the tomb of the Han dynasty. A few other ancient texts mention the cooking of Chinese medicine. Centuries later, another famous medical classic, Soo Sen Liang Fang, recorded effective treatment of chronic cough and successful treatment of poisonous snake bites with the use of stopping therapy.
After several thousand years of accumulated clinical experience, clinical applications of cupping are becoming more extensive. Chinese medicine is now used to treat arthritis symptoms, asthma, the common cold, chronic cough, dyspepsia problems and certain skin conditions.
In China, there is a saying: "Acupuncture and relief, more than half of cured diseases." Zhao Xue Ming, a doctor practicing more than 200 years ago, compiled a book called Ben Kong Gan Mu On Yiin which he describes in detail the history and origin of various types of cupping and cup shapes, functions and applications.
In mainland China, the development of stopping therapy was fast. In the 1950s, the clinical efficacy of edema was confirmed by a joint study of China and acupuncturists from the former Soviet Union and was established as a formal therapeutic practice in hospitals throughout China.
Today, as more and more people (including Gwyneth) are looking for alternative treatments to solve their health problems, the use of traditional Chinese medicine is growing, including cupping. Much of the equipment and cup techniques used today are exactly the same as in ancient times. Some electronic or mechanized pumps were invented, and suction cups were introduced, but to a large extent most people who practice cupping today still use horn, bamboo or glass cups. One of the reasons that the methods of cupping remain the same as in ancient times is due to the fact that, with the exception of a handful of practicing acupuncture, cupping is usually practiced in rural areas where there is no or very little modern medicine.
Cupping affects the flow of qi and blood. This helps pull out and eliminate pathogenic factors such as wind, cold, humidity and heat. Cupping also moves Qi and Blood and opens the pores of the skin, thereby accelerating the removal of pathogens through the skin.
My first experience of cupping was that I had a bad cold, and my acupuncturists put cups on their backs. At first my back was rubbed with fragrant oil, and when I lay face down, cups were applied. I felt their edges digging into my flesh, and then the soft warmth and release, when my skin was tightened and left my body. Once the cups were firmly in place and sucked my skin, the practitioner moved them up and down my back. (This is called walking bowls.) I stayed to rest with the cups on my back. As soon as I got up from the table, I felt much better, the weight in my chest disappeared, and I had bright purple cups with suckers on my back, unlike Gwyneth Paltrow in the photo of her cube. Violet signs did not harm me and did not bother me at all. They disappeared after a couple of days along with my cold. Relief gave relief from my cough and effective treatment of my cold.
