Health: Training hope for blood cupping practitioners – Gulf Digital News

Health: Training hope for blood cupping practitioners – Gulf Digital News

TRADITIONAL blood cupping could soon be making an official comeback if a national project to train 500 practitioners in the profession is given the post-pandemic greenlight by the authorities.

Blood cupping, also known as Hijamah, is an ancient form of alternative medicine in which a therapist punctures the skin with a razor before placing special cups on the skin for a few minutes to create suctions.

According to Bahrain Cupping Society founding member Fahad Zuwayed, the process helps with pain, inflammation, blood flow, relaxation and well-being, as well as disease prevention.

Mr Zuwayed

Around 100 men and women received their formal licences to practise before the project was halted as part of the precautionary rules and regulations introduced to help keep the population safe during the height of the Covid-19 crisis.

“The national project aimed to train around 500 individuals but the scheme was halted due to the pandemic and we are urging authorities to allow it to start once again,” Mr Zuwayed told the GDN.

“Bahrain is the only country in the GCC which has such a large number of professionals in Hijamah, some boasting decades of experience, and we should preserve this profession as part of our heritage.

“We collaborated with the National Health Regulatory