Complications of cupping therapy
Cupping therapy do not cause major side effects or complications, and no long-term side effects are associated with cupping therapy. The reported side effects of the procedure were mild to moderate side effects and occurred immediately after the cupping therapy session.
According to Kim et al. systematic review about side effects of cupping therapy in researches done in Korea, they concluded that, side effects of cupping therapy in the involved studies were rare.
Side effects of cupping therapy can be classified into preventable, and non-preventable complication. From the possible complications of cupping therapy that could be preventable:
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- Formation of scar after cupping therapy
- Skin burns and bullae formation
- One of the common side effects is skin infection
- Abscess formation
- Hematoma formation at the site of cupping therapy
- Panniculitis which is inflammation of adipose tissue especially in the abdomen.it is a serious side effect of cupping therapy
Non-preventable complications include:
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- Headache, tiredness, and even fainting due to Vaso-vagal attack after the session
- Koebner phenomenon can occur in patients with psoriasis
- Scar formation after session of wet cupping therapy
In a study by Jiang et al., they concluded that, cupping therapy side effects depends on the cup type, application method, and the frequency of cupping sessions. One rare side effect was reported in Weng et al. case study. They reported a case of fifty-eight-year-old woman, who acquired type A hemophilia after extensive bleeding following a cupping therapy session.
