Rabia Mayet | rabiamayet@radioislam.co.za

18 September 2024

5-minute read

With more and more people moving away from conventional medicine, many women with fertility issues are seeking alternative therapies to treat and cure their illnesses. A new modern approach to cupping and acupuncture may just be the answer.

There are multiple benefits to both cupping and acupuncture for every ailment, including infertility. A number of women face fertility issues nowadays and some of these include endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome, commonly known as PCOS, among others. These conditions can lead to infertility as they worsen, and in most cases, are causes of a poor diet and stressful lifestyle. Alternate medicine like cupping allows for better blood circulation and is a catalyst to restore the body. It supplies the body with what it requires in order to get back to optimum health.

According to Zeenat Cajee, a cupping therapist and acupuncturist, cupping helps to detoxify the blood, which is the root cause of most illnesses, by removing toxins. The modern-day diet and lifestyle causes a high amount of uric acid in the body; which contributes to auto-immune diseases and a build-up of toxins, uric acids, and metals in the blood. Toxins can comprise of virus, bacteria, parasites, muscle knots, cysts, fibroids and polyps. Cupping works by drawing up non-nutrient-rich blood from just beneath the skin’s surface to the topmost layer of the skin. This is blood that surrounds tissues and muscles; blood that the body does not need; and not blood from the arteries and veins. Acupuncture helps reduce inflammation in the body that manifests in pain, swelling and tenderness. It works by drawing the blood to the surface of the skin causing slight inflammation in an area to heal the deeper problem beneath the skin.

So what does a cupping session actually entail? After an initial consultation of one’s medical history, the therapist will brief the client on each step of the process. She works on the site of pain; commencing by placing a dry cup on the affected area and allowing the blood to be drawn to the surface of the skin. She then removes the dry cup and makes light superficial cuts on the skin with a blade before reapplying the cup to the same spot to draw out the dirty blood. Toxins get released through the dirty blood and no blood needed by the body is taken out. If no blood comes to the surface, it is a sign of poor circulation and too much stagnation within the body. Acidity levels can also be noted in the dirty blood that is removed from the body; an indication of too many take-outs and too much refined foods. These conditions can be treated with a change in diet, regular exercise, and consistency with cupping.  Zeenat states that cupping “looks more painful than it is” but is actually “pain-free”.

The body goes through a post-cupping process in order to continue detoxing, and during this process a high intake of water and hydration is required with caffeine and caffeinated drinks being minimized. As for side effects: what you could expect to feel after cupping is lowered energy, headaches, nausea and fatigue as the body goes through a resetting of the body processes.

Cupping assists in detoxifying the body by giving it an immune boost, thus reversing the problem and encouraging the body to heal itself. Inflammation is the body’s natural response to injury and causes swelling, pain and tenderness in the body. While chronic inflammation leads to disease, acute inflammation, which happens at the time of an injury, is actually the body’s way of protecting itself. Cupping assists in reducing inflammation by creating a vacuum effect; pulling up the skin and separating the layers of the muscles. A micro-trauma response is created when the skin is suctioned under the cup, which is like a sterile inflammation response in the area to heal it. With this the body triggers an immune response, creating an injury to heal an injury.

Symptoms of any pelvic inflammatory disease include pain around the reproductive organs, bleeding between periods, heavy periods, bleeding during intercourse, pain during intercourse and while urinating, and vaginal discharge. Cupping can bring on menstrual cycles, stimulate natural ovulation, and increase egg count. In women with endometriosis, cupping can assist in stopping the growth of the cyst. The negative pressure when pulling up the skin under the cup has been known to shrink cysts in the ovarian region.

However, toxin break-up does not happen in one session. In addition to regular cupping sessions for infertility, a lifestyle change is needed with a change in diet, increased water intake, exercise, decreased stress, and correct amounts of sleep. Additionally, it is important to cut out acid from a patients’ diets and increase alkaline foods “Amazing results” are seen when cupping is incorporated with treatment for PCOS. Cupping can even extend the period of time one needs for surgery so that the mass may not have to be cut as often. If symptoms persist, patients should have them checked out by a medical practitioner and choose a balanced approach between alternative and mainstream medical treatment.

Cupping is a cure for all ailments, if performed at the right time, and many women suffering from infertility have shared their success stories. Coupled with lifestyle changes because “food is medicine” and “resting is also productive”, by cupping, one will witness the shifa in the Sunnah.

Listen to the full interview with Faaiza Munshi and Zeenat Cajee on New Horizons.