Category Archives: Hijama Wet Cupping Therapy

Cupping therapy is used to remove blood and tissue fluid, which is mixed with harmful substances. It is also called as artificial kidney as it has same principles as that of nature. It increases the natural excretory role of skin by releasing both hydrophillic (having strong affinity for water) and hydrophobic (lack of affinity for water) substances. Cupping therapy is beneficial in a way as it keeps humans away from side effects like drug-drug interactions. 

Wet cupping therapy includes;


1-Dry Cupping Therapy


2-Skin puncturing


So, a new theory was proposed called “ Taibah Theory”, first part of taibah theory gives scientific principles of dry cupping therapy.

 Taibah theory states that: Al-Hijamah is Wet cupping thrapy 

(WCT) of prophetic medicine (Arabic in origin). 

Al-hijamah includes all steps of;


1-Chinese dry cupping therapy 


2-WCT 


Al-Hijamah is related in principle to the scientific mechanisms underlying abscess evacuation and fluid filtration at renal glomerulus, where a pressure-dependent excretion of harmful substances and causative pathological substance (CPS) occurs. Renal glomerulus is a network of capillaries that performs the first step of filtering blood. CPS include both disease-causing substances and disease-related substances.



Al-Hijamah is a surgical excretory procedure. Cups and a pump are used to create a suction force on skin which creates negative pressure on skin when the skin is uplifted due to this force. 

What does negative pressure means?

Inside the skin, pressure in capillaries is decreased because the skin is no more closely packed to capillaries as it were before the suction was made. As a result,

capillaries can now increase their capillary filtration, collection of filtered fluids etc. So, this process dilutes the chemical substances, inflammatory mediators, nociceptive substances, bathes nerve endings in collected fluids and breaks tissue adhesions causing decreased pain (Taibah theory for dry cupping therapy). 

On removing the cups, dramatic increase in skin blood flow occurs (also known as reactive hyperemia). 

Scarifications of surface of skin upliftings opens skin barrier for evacuation of fluids with CPS and prevents their absorption at venous capillary end. 

Immediate second cupping pressure is transmitted after skin incisions are made to create 
a pressure gradient and 
a traction force across the skin 
and capillaries, leading to excretion of collected interstitial fluids (including lymph) with CPS, filtration of capillary fluids containing CPS, and release of endogenous opioids (analgesic effect).


Cupping therapy increases innate and acquired immunity (skin wounding effect), hemolyzes old red blood cells and enhances natural excretory functions of the skin.


Smaller molecules having size less than capillary pore pass this pore due to suction force while larger molecules having size more than capillary pore are not able to pass through capillary pore.

Source taken from: http://esciencecentral.org/journals/medical-and-scientific-bases-of-wet-cupping-therapy-al-hijamah-in-light-of-modern-medicine-and-prophetic-medicine-2327-5162.1000122.pdf