YOU SHOULD KNOW

There’s a saying in China credited to the famous alchemist and herbalist Ge Hong (A.D. 283-343) that with “acupuncture and cupping, more than half of the ills cured.” Cupping therapy has roots in ancient Chinese medicine, first used as a supplementary method in traditional Chinese surgery, though many believe it extends further still to 1500 B.C. Egypt where the practice is depicted in hieroglyphics. Used mostly to treat boils before widespread benefits were discovered, the therapy originally applied cattle horns and cross sections of bamboo before glass cups were established. The applications were either boiled in water, or a small fire was lit and then extinguished inside the cups in order to create a suction that would adhere to skin. Cupping is mainstream, thanks to celebrity users such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Michael Phelps.