TCM employs mechanical efforts to improve local circulation, something abandoned by other cultures a couple of centuries ago. In cupping, a vacuum is induced in a small glass or bamboo cup, which is then applied to the skin surface. The purpose is to drain or remove cold and damp evils from the body or to assist blood circulation. Bleeding may be utilized to drain a channel or to remove heat from the body.
This method often leaves the patients with massive bruises and soft tissue bleeding. How effective it is, is unproven, and certainly other methods to improve local circulation like massage, especially lymphatic massage, are much more effective and leave no bruises.
