Cupping is the older form of counter-irritation and takes mainly two forms:Dry Cupping and Wet Cupping. The treatment gets its name from the “cupping glasses” which are used to effect the therapeutic change. A cupping glass is filled with hot air (the patient feels no heat!) and applied to soft tissues (muscles). The contraction of the air in the cupping glass draws the muscles into the glass, thus concentrating not only the tissues themselves but also the local fluids (blood and lymph). The tissues are gently lifted, in itself bringing relief to sciatica and emphysema, etc. and the resulting improvement in circulation causes a local detoxification, often bringing relief to inflammations. When this is the extent of the therapy, it is called “dry cupping”. Usually, however, wet cupping is more useful. In wet cupping, this same procedure is followed by removing the glasses and applying a scarifier to the cupped area. A scarifier is a small set of spring-loaded knives (sounds painful, but it isn’t, in fact it is far less uncomfortable than acupuncture) which lightly scratch the surface of the skin, causing an evacuation of stagnant fluids and matter when the cup is replaced. it is painless and often brings an on-the-spot relief of pain.