If you suffer from pain in a particular area, you might like to consider having a cupping treatment.  Cupping is frequently used by acupuncturists as an adjunct therapy or as an alternative to acupuncture.

Originally called "horn therapy" in ancient China, variations of cupping have been used in Turkey, Greece, France, Italy, and Eastern Europe. Even today, it is considered to be an important home health treatment in many Greek and European families.

The cups used are generally of rounded glass or plastic construction. There are various ways they can be applied. They can be applied with a pump, which attaches to the cup and pumps out the air, thus creating a vacuum. Another common method of application is by heating the glass cup with a burning taper. The heat takes the oxygen out of the cup and creates a vacuum so that the cup easily adheres to the skin. Skin and flesh are pulled up into the cup, stimulating the blood circulation and the underlying musculature.

In Japan, practitioners of Oriental medicine (other than medical doctors) are licensed to practice acupuncture; moxibustion or cupping and are not allowed to combine the three modalities as we are able to do in Australia or the United States. Because a Japanese cupping specialist is only allowed to use cupping to treat their patients, they have to be able to treat every possible condition by means of cups. Hence they have developed some very comprehensive cupping strategies.

The application of cups on the back and shoulders is extremely successful in treating back and shoulder pain. In particularly bad cases of blood stagnation, a drop of blood is extracted from the painful or tight area, and a cup applied over the site. When the air is pumped out, the suction effect created by the vacuum draws stagnant black blood from the punctured spot and into the cup. Once the old, black blood has been extracted, fresh blood automatically pours into the painful spot. This fresh, clean blood sweeps away debris that has been inhibiting the free flow of qi to the area. Most patients find this treatment greatly relieves their pain. There are certain important contraindications to this treatment so it is best administered by an acupuncturist or other trained practitioner.Cupping is difficult to apply on hairy areas such as hairy backs or the head as a perfect seal cannot be formed on the skin.Cupping is generally painless and most patients say afterwards that they have a feeling of lightness and flexibility in the formerly painful area. However the procedure does leave a round bruise which can remain for up to a week (depending on the extent of blood stagnation present). So if you are going swimming or doing modeling, you will have to take this into consideration if you are going to have a cupping treatment on an exposed area. Examples of conditions that cupping can treat are: -

· Vertigo
· Gastric Disorders
· Constipation
· Diarrhea
· Intercostal Neuralgia
· Intestinal Disorders
· Hemorrhoids
· Sciatica
· Stiff Shoulders
· High blood Pressure, stroke and arteriosclerosis
· Bronchial asthma
· Gynecological Disorders
· Kidney Disorders (including frequent/urgent urination)
· Liver Disorders, Gallbladder Disorders
· High Fever
· Dermatological Disorders

So, if you are needle phobic and you have a health condition which is not responding to Western medicine, you might like to consider trying cupping.