Al-Hijamah cupping therapy

الملخص EN

Cupping therapy has been practiced for thousands of years ago for the treatment of some disease and pain.

It is a form of acupuncture that focuses on the movement of blood, energy - called Qi - and body fluids, such as lymph - which circulates around the body's tissues.

Oriental medicine states that pain is due to stagnation of these systems. This stagnation can be a result of injury or stress.

Cupping is believed to stimulate flow of blood, lymph and Qi to the affected area.

Its uses include relieving pain in the muscles, especially back pain from stiffness or injury, and clearing congestion in the chest, which can occur with colds and flu.

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of Al-Hijamah on mean blood pressure (MBP), heart rate (HR) and blood parameters like hemoglobin (Hb) %, platelets count, white blood cell (WBC) count, Neutophils % (N), Eosinophils (E) %, Basophils (B) %, Monocytes (M) %, and Lymphocytes (L) % before and after the performance of Al-Hijamah.

The result indicate that there are significant decrease in MBP, WBC count, N % and M%.

However there are significant increase in Hb %, platelets counts and L % but HR and E % were showed no significant changes.