According to its advocates, cupping is supposed to promote healing and has been used extensively for sore muscles. But that’s only the beginning. Cupping has also been used for:

 

  • back and neck pain
  • skin diseases such as acne and hives
  • lowering cholesterol
  • migraines
  • knee arthritis
  • improving immune function.

And there are many others. If cupping does help with these problems, it’s worth asking: how?

This article by Robert H. Schmerling, MD from Harvard Health dives into what cupping is, as well as how and why it is used.