# Is cupping really an ancient Chinese practice? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 9, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cupping-really-an-ancient-chinese-practice/762271 "2016-08-09T19:35:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cupping-really-an-ancient-chinese-practice/762271/41 "2016-08-12T12:18:16Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Not every criticism about a different culture has a racist element to it. > Bullshit is Bullshit regardless of the skin colour of the perpetrator. What I was referring to was the assumption that “undeveloped” cultures value mysticism and woo over good medicine. You can find blatant woo anywhere (including in the Far East), but there is a hearty and increasing appreciation for evidence-based practices. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cupping-really-an-ancient-chinese-practice/762271/42 "2016-08-28T17:28:06Z")
Isn’t cupping an artificial hickey make out session? Should cuppers be worried? Isn’t this thread a great excuse to alert SD?: **Love bite horror as teen dies ‘after girlfriend’s hickey formed blood clot that travelled to brain causing stroke’** > **[Teen dies 'after girlfriend's love bite formed blood clot that caused a stroke'](https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/love-bite-horror-teen-dies-8718037)** > > Paramedics rushed to the scene but they could not save 17-year-old Julio Macias Gonzalez Actually, I don’t see how surface capillary damage will “cause” or break off a pre-existent clot. Paging **Qadgop**. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cupping-really-an-ancient-chinese-practice/762271/43 "2016-08-28T22:44:23Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I don’t know if it’s bollocks or not but I have a friend who is into all manner of homeopathic medicine … she’s not a liar or a crackpot These two statements fo not agree. ---
**Author:** ![race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c4cdca/32.png) [@race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/race_to_the_bottom)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cupping-really-an-ancient-chinese-practice/762271/44 "2016-08-29T00:07:48Z")
When I was a child, we had a small device about 2" long which had a spring loaded blade about 1/4" long. You cocked the spring and when released, the blade would have punctured the skin about 1/8" deep. My father said it was for cupping. I presume it belonged to my grandparents who were Scandinavian immigrants. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cupping-really-an-ancient-chinese-practice/762271/45 "2016-08-29T14:53:39Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Isn’t cupping an artificial hickey make out session? > > Should cuppers be worried? > > Isn’t this thread a great excuse to alert SD?: > > **Love bite horror as teen dies ‘after girlfriend’s hickey formed blood clot that travelled to brain causing stroke’** > [http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/love-bite-horror-teen-dies-8718037](http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/love-bite-horror-teen-dies-8718037) > > Actually, I don’t see how surface capillary damage will “cause” or break off a pre-existent clot. > > Paging **Qadgop**. Oh good, grief, that’s BS. Hickeys do not lead to life-threatening embolic events. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cupping-really-an-ancient-chinese-practice/762271/46 "2016-08-29T16:22:58Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Oh good, grief, that’s BS. Hickeys do not lead to life-threatening embolic events. How can you doubt this mechanism? The story quotes a Dr. Wu (Woo). ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cupping-really-an-ancient-chinese-practice/762271/47 "2016-08-30T01:26:29Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Oh good, grief, that’s BS. Hickeys do not lead to life-threatening embolic events. Hickeys can lead to further activity that results in pregnancy, and that has been known to cause blood clots, as well as other life-threatening consequences. (For most of history, it was the leading cause of death for adult women.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cupping-really-an-ancient-chinese-practice/762271.md?page=2)