The Art of Cupping. Hedwig Manz
Faller A, Schünke M. Der Körper des Menschen. 15th ed. Stuttgart: Thieme; 2008)
Table 3.1 Head’s zones of the organs
| Organ | Zone |
| Heart C3–T4 | → predominantly left |
| Esophagus T4–T6 | → left or right |
| Lungs/bronchial tubes C3–T9 | → left or right |
| Stomach T8–T9 | → predominantly left |
| Small intestine C3–T10 | → right or left |
| Large intestine C3–T11 | → right or left |
| Liver/gallbladder T8–T11 | → right |
| Pancreas T7–T10 | → left |
| Spleen T11 | → left |
| Kidneys/ureter T8–S4 | → left or right |
| Bladder on both sides T10–S4 | → left or right |
| Uterus/ovaries and testicles T10–L3 | → left or right |
Fig. 3.2 Orienting illustration of the segments. (Schünke M, Schulte E, Schumacher U. Prometheus. THIEME Atlas of Anatomy. Head, Neck, and Neuroanatomy. Illustrations by M. Voll and K. Wesker. 3rd ed. Stuttgart: Thieme; 2020)
Note
Segment reactions almost always occur on the same side of the body as the diseased organ. Nevertheless, segments can also overlap, or the disease symptoms can, in longer-lasting illness, jump from one segment to another.
The cutivisceral and viscerocutaneous reflex paths (organ–spinal cord–skin connections) operate according to the principle of interaction or rather feedback mechanisms. In the same way that disease in the viscera manifests on the surface of the skin, we can also reversely transfer certain skin stimuli to the viscera.
Via these biological functional circles, we can on the one hand explain certain disease processes: frequent occurrence of angina pectoris episodes in cold weather for example (this path also functions in the harmful sense, e. g., sudden cooling off of the chest skin can cause a heart attack). On the other hand, we can also affect the viscera therapeutically. Among other things, we take advantage of this fact in the case of cupping therapy. By placing the cups on the skin, we address the receptors in the skin and cause not only an improved localized blood flow but also via the neural connections a more intensive blood flow in the viscera associated with the concerned skin area.
Note
Given the fact that cupping not only causes hyperemia, but also the formation of extravasates, the possibility of a dual therapy arises: in addition to the effect of hyperemia described above, the extravasates cause an irritation that also stimulates and accelerates the connective tissue metabolism for several days. This stimulation puts the organism in a position where it is able to restore its disturbed order through the vegetative regulatory systems.
It is not uncommon that a single or only a few cupping treatments result in the complete cure of a variety of syndromes.
3.1.2 Identifying and Eliminating the Focal Disturbance
As in any type of therapy, treatment success is impossible to predetermine in cupping. In one case, a treatment will immediately have good results, but in another case that appears identical based on the symptoms, the course is completely different. This depends on each specific case of disease.
Nevertheless, cupping at the location or the segment associated with the disease is bound to fail if the true disease is located somewhere else completely. If the first treatment shows no improvement, we must consider whether there may be a distant disturbance outside the segment.
Memorize M!
In such a case, we must search for the focal disturbance!
Any disease and any location of our body can turn into a focal disturbance. Any local treatment is bound to remain ineffective if we fail to eliminate the cause. This is also a necessary precondition for reducing distant symptoms.
On the living human body, it is not easy to visualize the segments. We have to be intimately familiar with the anatomical relationships to draw specific diagnostic conclusions on the basis of complaints that arise in the segments, which is necessary for therapy. For the quick detection of certain segments, I have found the following simplified clues helpful:
• The noticeably protruding seventh cervical vertebra can serve as the border between the segments C7 and C8.
• The third thoracic vertebra, which is located on the connecting line between the two shoulder ridges, can be considered as the border between the segments T2 and T3.
• The seventh thoracic vertebra, located on the lower connecting line between the two shoulder blades, can serve as the border between the segments T6 and T7.
• The 12th thoracic vertebra, which can be felt as the attachment of the last rib, can be considered as the border between the segments T11 and T12.
• The fourth lumbar vertebra, located on the connecting line between the highest points of both iliac wings, can simultaneously also be considered as the border between the segments L3 and L4.
3.2 Dry Cupping as Regulation Therapy
Blood is a very special juice.
Goethe, Faust
When Goethe had Mephisto utter this sentence in Faust, he wanted to suggest that blood is a metaphor for life. This poetic image has also been fully validated from the perspective of modern science. Blood as the carrier of numerous active substances not only contributes to the management of many bodily functions but also has great diagnostic and therapeutic significance in medicine.
The therapeutic effect of blood has long been recognized. We can find theories about the way in which autohemotherapy acts on the human body in the experimental research of different physicians like Nourney, Bier, Jablonska (resistance-increasing effect), Pfeiffer (formation of antibodies), Haferkampf (summary of autohemotherapy), Hoffheinz, Petri (proteolytic ferments for resolving pneumonia), and Höveler (allergy, geriatrics, skin disorders), to name just a few.
While opinions on autohemotherapy differ, one thing is certain: autohemotherapy—and therefore also cupping—acts primarily in the sense of a regulation therapy.
Note
Regulation therapy is a naturopathic method in which a stimulus is applied to increase the organism’s power of resistance. Alternatively—as the name of the therapy suggests—it serves to retune disturbed self-regulatory mechanisms of the body to enable the body to resist pathogenic influences.
The term “regulation” includes any influence that has been caused by the use of medicinal drugs or by dietetic, climatic, or even psychological measures. In general, however, regulation therapy is understood to mean the intake of substances (stimulants), primarily proteins, that have an effect on the human organism, by bypassing the gastrointestinal tract.
The most common methods with a regulating effect are autohemotherapy, cupping, and autourotherapy. Regulating substances include injections of human and animal serum (as, for example, in immunizations), blood, urine, and also boiled milk.
Autohemotherapy refers