Bloodletting: Cupping Bells and Scarificator, 1821

Several different types of cupping bells and two views of a scarifier, one a cross section showing it in operation. Bloodletting was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and other bodily fluid were considered to be humors the proper balance of which maintained health, but it often weakened sick patients. It was the most common medical practice performed by doctors from antiquity up to the late 19th century, a time span of almost 2, 000 years. Cupping therapy is an ancient form of therapy in which a local suction is created on the skin; practitioners believe this mobilizes blood flow in order to promote healing. Suction is created using heat (fire) or mechanical devices (hand or electrical pumps). There is reason to believe the practice dates from as early as 3000 BC. The Ebers Papyrus, and one of the oldest medical textbooks in the world, describes the Egyptian use of cupping

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1821 Alternative Bloodletting Cupping Quackery Suction Therapy

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