Why Olympians covered in red circles! Not Paintballing misadventures or some skin infection

Why Olympians covered in red circles? Not Paintballing misadventures nor some skin infection but rather it’s a form of therapy done in order to drain out stagnant blood and lymph fluid, causing it to mobilise and flow, this promotes healing at the site and surrounding areas.

It is amazing to see athletes competing at Rio Olympics 2016 and using cupping therapy to help in their recovery from tedious training to ease aches & pain. It’s a therapy practised by athletes, celebrities & every day individual going by his life.

Look at this article on BBC “Why are so many Olympians covered in large red circles?” as it has made to the news.

Here is an interesting part:

This practise is encouraged & has been practised in Islamic faith for over 1400 years.

So what is Cupping Therapy?

Cupping therapy now practiced for over a thousand years is whereby a local suction is applied on the skin. The pressure of the suction causes dispels stagnant blood and lymph fluid, causing it to mobilize and flow, this promotes healing at the the site and surrounding areas. The suction that is used can be created by a professional suction machine, fire or other handheld vacuum devices.

Cupping Therapy is practiced across the globe with slight variations and may also be known as any of the following badkesh, banki, bahnkes, bekam, buhang, bentusa, kyukaku, gak hoi, Hijamah cupping, kavaa and singhi among others.

Not only is hijama cupping alleviating the symptoms from a whole array of medical problem its also improves general physical and psychological well-being.

Hijama is an Arabic word for cupping meaning ‘sucking or vacuum’. Originally Hijama was known as ‘cupping’ because of the use of cups as therapeutic tools. Initially the horn or cup was heated to create a negative pressure and this was mostly used to draw out blood and pus, but later, it was found to be effective in treating other diseases and over time developed into a therapeutic method. The modern method is not to use fire but to use sterile plastic cups with a pump to create the vacuum within.

So how is ‘cupping’ done?

There are two different types of Cupping:

Dry cupping – This is the process where the cups are placed on the body with suction however the incisions are not made therefore blood is not removed from the skin.

Wet cupping (Hijama) – This is the process where the cups are placed on the body with suction and then incisions are made on the skin to allow the removal of blood from the body. This is the Practise of Prophet Muhammad Peace be upon Him and this is called Hijama.

A little history of Cupping

Cupping treatment commonly referred to as Hijama in Arabic, has been around for thousands of years, and developed over time from the original use of hollowed out animal horns to suck out and drain the toxins out of snakebites and skin lesions. Horns slowly evolved into bamboo cups, which were eventually replaced by glass. Therapeutic applications evolved with the refinement of the cup itself, and with the cultures that employed cupping as a health care technique.

The true origin of cupping treatment still remains uncertain to this day. Some consider the Chinese to be responsible for cupping. The earliest recorded use of cupping treatment from the famous alchemist and herbalist, Ge Hong (281-341 A.D.), which incorporates the popular saying “Acupuncture and cupping, more than half of the ills cured.”

The Chinese expanded the utilization of cupping to include its use in surgery to divert blood flow from the surgery site. By the 19th century, after much extensive research, a collaborative effort between the former Soviet Union and China confirmed the clinical efficacy of cupping therapy. Since then, cupping has become a mainstay of government-sponsored hospitals of Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

The earliest record of pictorial record of cupping was discovered in Egypt around 1500 B.C.. Translations of the hieroglyphic text about ancient medicine detailed the use of cupping for conditions such as fever, pain, vertigo, menstrual imbalances, weakened appetites and accelerating the “healing crisis” of disease. From the Egyptians, cupping was introduced to the ancient Greeks, where Hippocrates, the Father of Modern Medicine, recommended the use of cups for a variety of disorders such angina and menstrual irregularities.

Eventually, cupping treatment spread to ancient cultures in many countries of Europe and even the Americas. Throughout the 18th century, European and American doctors widely used cupping in their practice to treat common colds and chest infections, often in the form of Wet or Blood Cupping. Also known as Artificial Leeching and Hijamah in Muslim societies.

By the late 1800′s and the newly established scientific model of medicine, cupping was severely criticized and discredited. The new model defined medicine by making the body transparent, focusing on and treating the inside, in preference to the outside. Since cupping was a surface treatment, it was inconsistent with this new Medical paradigm, which had shifted away from hands on manipulative therapies.

After decades of being reduced to the curiosity of the past to collect dust on a shelf, cupping today has re-emerged as a subtle, yet powerful healing modality that can complement many health modalities ranging from spa treatments to medical massage and physical therapy.

Benefits of cupping Therapy

The strengthening and stimulating effects of Hijama therapy make it successful in treating the following conditions: fatigue, period pain, constipation and diarrhoea, headaches, back pain, arthritis, injuries, asthma, anemia, depression and emotional problems, depression and much more. Traditional medicine tells us that all pain is due to stagnation of blood and Qi (body energy) pronounced as “chee”.

The cups used in Hijama create a wonderful pulling power that reduces pain and enhances the mobilization of the immune system, stagnated blood and enhances the mobilization of the immune system, stagnated blood and Qi.

Hijama therapy is effective in treating some clinical manifestations of external pathogens that are fighting at the level of the skin.

Hijama treatment releases toxins with minimal additional stress to internal organs and it directly de-acidifies tissues, enhances blood circulation, stimulates the immune system and reduces stress as it releases chemicals from the body that reduce stress and depression.

It also facilitates a sufficient flow of nutrition to the affected tissues and stimulates the flow of blood and lymph and so improves blood and lymph flow, and activates the function of the organs. Performing Hijama on the corresponding organ points is used to treat disorders such as liver and kidney problems, respiratory diseases, digestive disorders and some gynecological disorders. It can also be used to treat muscle spasms especially in the back. It is useful in treating painful joints, , stomach-ache, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Detoxification of the blood, stimulation of new blood formation

As we age, we suffer from increased accumulation of toxins, stemming from poor diet and lifestyle, pharmaceutical drugs, pesticides, insecticides and other chemicals in our fruits, vegetables and meat, environmental pollutants and chemicals. Hijama helps to remove these impurities and stimulate the bone marrow to produce new, healthier blood, increases blood circulation and pain reduction. Areas of chronic pain often have localized areas of blood stagnation. Both the action of drawing a vacuum on the skin as well as the drawing of blood helps to improve circulation. Cupping has been used successfully for numerous diseases including blood disorders, hemophilia, tumors, headaches, paralysis, cardio-vascular, hepatic, renal, genital, rheumatic, and ophthalmic diseases.

It is important to have Hijama performed by someone who is trained by a self- regulating-body school.

There are various narrations found showing Prophet Muhammad Peace be upon him practising it and encouraging it.

A nattartion by one of his companions Jaabir (may Allaah be pleased with him), the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If there is any good in your medical treatments, it is in the knife of the cupper, drinking honey, or cauterization with fire, as appropriate to the cause of the illness, but I would not like to be cauterized.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 10/139)

According to another narration by one of his companions Jaabir (may Allaah be pleased with him), the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If there is any good in your medical treatments, it is in the knife of the cupper, drinking honey, or cauterization with fire, as appropriate to the cause of the illness, but I would not like to be cauterized.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 10/139)

With regard to the times when cupping is recommended:

It was reported from one of his companions Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with them both) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The best times to be treated with cupping are the seventeenth, nineteenth or twenty-first [of the month].” (Reported by al-Tirmidhi, 2054)

Content Reference: www.londoncuppingclinic.com