Cupping is the technique of suctioning a jar made of bamboo or glass on the skin. The suction is created by heat from a flame, so cupping is also called fire cupping. This method involves placing a lighted alcohol swab inside the cup, which burns the oxygen to create a vacuum. The most common type of jar is made of glass its transparency allows the doctor to see the flame so he or she can create proper suction. The recent development of cups with suction pumps makes cupping safer and more convenient than ever before.

The different forms of cupping include stationary, flash, moving, single-cup and multiple-cup. Cupping could be used alone or with other therapeutic methods such as needling (putting cups over needles), pricking (putting cups over pricked region), and herbs (using bamboo cups cooked in herbal decoctions, or putting herbs in cups before treatment).

The cupping therapy has expanded because of its simplicity and effectiveness. Cupping is especially useful for wind-damp Bi-syndrome, muscular-skeleton disorders, coughs, wheezing, abdominal pain, back pain, leg pain, early-stage abscess and flat-abscess.