Ouch two.

My husband looks like he has some kind of weird tropical disease, or chicken pox on steroids on his lower back only.

After my success with Dr. Lan and after having heard Ulf complain about his back pain (that damn bed) I one morning forced him (read me for him) to make an appointment. Men, you know, they complain and complain and complain again but seems to have a problem doing something about it. They are busy or it’s inconvenient or whatever. I stood my ground and he went and returned home later completely convinced and very impressed.

First session, acupressure massage, and already he felt better but still had to return for another treatment. As mentioned before, Dr. Lan treats you as he see fit, meaning you have absolutely no idea of what is going to happen to you. I got the needles on my first session and Ulf got the cups on his second.

Cupping treatment, or fire cupping treatment as it is also called, is an ancient form of alternative medicine 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). It is known in local languages as baguan/baguar, badkesh, banki, bahnkes, bekam, buhang, bentusa, kyukaku, gak hoi, Hijamah, kavaa (ކަވާ), singhi among others (Thank you Wikipedia).

Basically, the air inside the cup is heated and the rim is applied to the skin, forming an airtight seal. As the air inside the cup cools, it contracts, forming a partial vacuum and enabling the cup to suck the skin, pulling in soft tissue, and drawing blood to that area.

There is no scientific evidence that it can cure cancer or any other disease but increase blood flow to an area, sure! It sounds pretty freaky and the end result, big red circular bruises, is not pretty but it seems to work! It’s either Dr. Lan’s treatment or the fact that Ulf went for a business trip and got to sleep in a real bed for the first time in six weeks but the complaining has stopped. About the back at least.