Classification of Cupping Therapy: A Tool for Modernization and Standardization
Abdullah Mohammed Al-Bedah
Executive Director and Consultant Family and Community Medicine, National Center of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Tamer Shaban Aboushanab *
National Center of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Meshari Saleh Alqaed
National Center of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Naseem Akhtar Qureshi
National Center of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Imen Suhaibani
National Center of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Gazzaffi Ibrahim
National Center of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Mohammed Khalil
National Center of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Cupping therapy is one of the oldest healing methods and practiced by ancient Chinese, Egyptians and Greeks. There are many types of cupping therapy and recently, practitioners and researchers have added more types to the practice of cupping. This research aimed to classify types of cupping to help in modernization and standardization of cupping therapy. This proposed classification of cupping therapy that might guide researchers stay organized, help them to differentiate and compare various types, raise their knowledge of cupping and precisely clarify cupping types terms and methods related to research in future. The proposed classification of cupping into six main categories will also help the field of cupping therapy in uniform training of concerned therapists.
Keywords: Cupping therapy, classification, cupping research, training, standardization, modernization