Wacky Day

Some of us (crazies living here) decided it would be a great idea to think of wacky things we can do while in China.  Things that we wouldn't do living in our home countries.  So today was our first one (though technically we have already done crazy things).  Sharla's idea was to go cupping. 

You are probably thinking...what is cupping?  Cupping is a method of treating disease that is caused by local congestion.  A partial vacuum is created in cupping jar, by means of heat, and then applied directly to the skin.  The underlying tissue is drawn up into the jar forming an area of blood stasis.  This appears to bruise the area, or at least turn it a bright red.  The amount of dark red or even purple blood drawn to the surface indicates the degree of stagnation.

In our case the ladies attached a cotton ball to forceps, dipped it in alcohol, and lit it on fire.  They then shoved it in a glass to heat it up then placed it on our backs.    It does not hurt.  Once they were all in place (13 in all) it feels like it is sucking your skin.  Kind of like when you take a vacuum cleaner and put it on your stomach or leg.  I remember doing that as a kid.

Ileana and I watched Sharla since we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.  It is the weirdest thing to see.  Once they are in place they cover them with a blanket.  Not really sure why.  We pulled the blanket back a couple times so we could see what was going on.  In each cup you can see the skin turning red and pulling up into the cup.  It was amazing and gross and intriguing and freaky and scary and exciting.  She laid there for 15 minutes and then they pulled them off.  All kinds of red, and some purple, circles were all that was left. 

Next up was Ileana.  They put them all on and covered them with a blanket and never said a word.  Then they started on me.  They got them all on my back and there were all kinds of Chinese speaking and mmmmmmm sounds.  I asked what was going on. They told Sharla in Chinese so she told us they said I must be a cold person.  WHAT????  I guess my skin was turning really red.  Every time they looked they made noise.  I was a little worried.  And as I laid there I was thinking 'why is it always me that has something weird going on?'  They took Ileana's cups off and she had some really red/purple circles and they were welted.  They took mine off and as it turned out they didn't look so bad.  The ladies changed their minds I guess because then they started saying Ileana was the worst one.  Not sure what we are suppose to make of all this commotion from the workers. 

Getting the jars placed on my back.

14 jars all sucking the bad toxins out of my body.

The final result.

The last picture looks really bad.  But even after I stood up they were not that red in real life.  After a few hours all but 4 circles were mostly gone.  It looks way worse than it was.  It really looked like I was laying on a circle lawn chair.  You know how you get the slat marks?  Mine was just circle marks instead.  Overall, it was a fun experience. Now to see how long these circles will be on our backs. They say a few days to a couple weeks before they are completely gone. Hmmm.