China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Traditional Chinese Medicine Rehabilitation Treatment Techniques for COVID-19
Published in Wenguang Xia, Xiaolin Huang, Rehabilitation from COVID-19, 2021
According to Western medicine, negative pressure suction of cupping can stimulate the formation of a large number of bubbles on the skin surface to strengthen the gas exchange in tissues. Cupping therapy is pathophysiologically a form of arterial engorgement. When arterial engorgement occurs, local arterioles dilate and substance metabolism and functional activities are enhanced. This will increase the supply of oxygen and nutrients in blood circulation, thus promoting metabolism and treating diseases.
Indigenous Knowledge Systems: Practices in Modern-Day China
Published in David R. Katerere, Wendy Applequist, Oluwaseyi M. Aboyade, Chamunorwa Togo, Traditional and Indigenous Knowledge for the Modern Era, 2019
Cupping therapy is a form of alternative medicine in which a local suction is created on the patient’s skin to dispel stagnation (stagnant blood and lymph), thereby improving Qi flow, in order to treat respiratory diseases such as the common cold, pneumonia, and bronchitis (State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmacy, 1997). Through suction, the skin is drawn into the cup by creating a vacuum in the cup placed on the skin over the targeted area. The vacuum can be created either by the heating and subsequent cooling of the air in the cup, or via a mechanical pump. The cup is usually left in place for somewhere between five and fifteen minutes. The suction and negative pressure provided by cupping can loosen muscles, encourage blood flow, and relieve the nervous system. Cupping is used on the back, neck, and shoulders to relieve musculoskeletal complaints. Acupuncturists often use cupping therapy with Tui na or needling. Cupping is not advised in TCM over skin ulcers or to the abdominal or sacral regions of pregnant women (Cheng, 1987).
Case 57
Published in Vincent J Palusci, Dena Nazer, Patricia O Brennan, Diagnosis of Non-accidental Injury, 2015
You were asked to consult on a 15-year-old obese Chinese male who was being treated for osteogenic sarcoma. During his back examination, you noticed several pattern marks which covered his back from his cervical to his lumbosacral paraspinal areas (Image 57a). Some were circular and others appeared to blend together and coalesce around the spine. They were red and purple in colour. The lesions are slightly tender to the touch, but there is no break in the skin. What are the possible causes for these findings?Do you have any recommendations about further treatment?The circular lesions suggest an object with a curved or curvilinear edge has been applied to the skin to cause bruises. Given that there is some bruising in the centre, additional pressure or force has been used within the outlined objects. The location of the lesion away from bony prominences suggest non-accidental trauma. This pattern is consistent with a complementary medical practice called cupping.1 Cupping therapy is an ancient Chinese form of alternative medicine in which a local suction is created on the skin; practitioners believe this mobilizes blood flow in order to promote healing. Suction is created using heat or mechanical devices and is known in local languages as baguan, banki, bahnkes, bekam, buhang, bentusa, kyukaku and ciogio, among other names. The patient and his family confirmed that he had been treated with the practice 4 days before. The lesions appeared more extensive on day 1 (Image 57b).It is important to realize that families use a variety of traditional and non-traditional (complementary and alternative) treatments for cancer pain in their children. Depending on how it is applied, children often describe it as a soothing experience with little pain during the procedure and improvement in cancer pain for days or weeks afterward. In a review, psychoeducational interventions, music interventions, acupuncture plus drug therapy, Chinese herbal medicine plus cancer therapy, compound kushen injection, reflexology, lycopene, qigong, cupping, cannabis, Reiki, homeopathy and creative art therapies might have beneficial effects on cancer pain.2 Results were inconsistent for massage therapy, transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation and music plus cancer treatment. Given that these lesions are not preventable and may actually reflect the appropriate application of cupping, parents and children should receive appropriate counselling regarding reducing the pain of the procedure as well as complications from heat or bleeding, particularly if the child has coagulation problems related to their underlying diagnosis.
Wet cupping for hypertension: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Published in Clinical and Experimental Hypertension, 2019
Shuting Lu, Shizheng Du, Anne Fish, Cong Tang, Qingqing Lou, Xuefang Zhang
Cupping is dry or wet. Wet cupping therapy expels fluids and toxins into a cup and has been shown to be better than dry cupping because it removes causative pathological substances and restores normal physiology, whereas dry cupping therapy relies only on the dilution and redistribution of causative pathological substances to new locations (24). Wet cupping has long been used by acupuncturists as a treatment for chronic diseases such as hypertension (25–27). The exact mechanism of wet cupping is not clear, and many theories such as Qi, Yin and Yang have been put forward (28). Wet cupping is thought to act by triggering the suppression of proliferation of harmful inflammatory mediators, biological, chemical or other unwanted substances (24), and removing oxidants from the body, reducing oxidative stress (29). Some researchers report that wet cupping discharges excess liquids, increases the flow of blood to the skin and muscle, and stimulates peripheral nerves, neurohormones and the circulatory and immune systems (27,30).