There is a lot of talk about where the origin of cupping therapy is. When I studied Acupuncture, I learned that Cupping originated in China, and was claimed as a major component of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Of course, being one of the first cultures to begin recording the findings of their experiments in medicine, the earliest reported documents of cupping do originate in China.

The first written documentation of cupping in China came from the Bo Shu, an ancient document written on silk. This document was found in a tomb from the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD). Later, around 23 AD cupping was referenced in the Su Sen Liang Fang as being an effective cure for chronic cough.

In the 1950’s, in a joint effort between Russia and China a number of studies were performed that identified cupping to be an effective treatment for a number of conditions. From that point, cupping was integrated into hospitals as an official therapeutic practice.

I n the meantime, cupping was also widely used elsewhere. We see evidence of ancient cupping therapy in the tombs in ancient Egypt, and in one of the oldest pictographic textbooks, The Papyrus of Ani (1250 BCE) there are images of cupping therapy.

Evidence of cupping can be found engraved on the tomb of king Tutankhamon. The Egyptians utilized cupping regularly, and considered it to be a treatment for almost any kind of illness.

Cupping was passed on to the Greeks and Romans; Hippocrates [460-377 BC] and Galen [131-200 AD] Hippocrates developed the idea of the four body humours which were Blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. Health was considered a balance of these four humours. Bloodlettting was a method to bring the four humours back into balance. Hippocrates differentiated between wet cupping and dry cupping, and preferred dry cupping as it was a less invasive technique (Turks and Allen, 1983) He used cupping to treat angina, menstrual disorders, and other illnesses.

Galen believed that bloodletting was one of the most important treatment methods. His belief was that the best way to keep the body healthy was to keep the body free from waste and toxins. Galen also believed that bloodletting was an effective way to cool the body down during a fever (Bondok 2006)

Ibn Sina [980-1037AD] Also known as Avicenna was an Islamic philosopher and scholar, physician, psychiatrist and poet. The book 'the canon of medicine' was written by Sina, which was used worldwide as a medical textbook. He supported the use of cupping, particularly at different times of the day and the year as advised by the prophet Mohammed. In his explanation he states that the sim of cupping is to draw inflammation away from deep structures in the body to the surface to take a way pain and 'humours' from the area. Ibn Sin practiced both wet and dry cupping mainly prophylactically in traditional medicine. He did not perform wet cupping on children below the age of two years, or the elderly above the age of 60. His belief was the same as many others, that cupping was a way of 'purifying' the body of harmful substances. He would only perform cupping on the back when the moon was high in the sky. This was because he believed that at that particular time the body fluid is increased greatly or it is very active.

Travelling through the early trade routes, cupping found its way into every healing culture from Asia to Africa, and Europe. Because of its simplicity and effectiveness, cupping was mostly used as a home remedy. In many cases it passed from generation to generation, and household to household. It became a verbal tradition throughout the world, and still today people tell me that their grandmother used to perform cupping on them. In India and Africa, a horn was used to perform cupping, and the suction was created by sucking from the mouth until the vacuum was created. Later, cups were made from mud, bamboo and eventually glass.

This may be the perfect time to address the current status of cupping therapy, in modern culture. More and more we have seen the popularity of cupping arise. This is largely because of the invention of ‘modern tools’. Plastic pump and gun cups made cupping much quicker and easier and this tool became vastly popular with acupuncturists, physiotherapists, and chiropractors. Silicone cups were also developed in China and Russia, and became very popular for cellulite and myofascial treatments. Now silicone cups are extremely popular in many bodywork fields because they are flexible, quick and immensely effective in moving tissues and fluids.