Traditionally bamboo and pottery cups were used for cupping but nowadays glass or plastic cups are also used. The cup is placed on the skin and a vacuum is created (either igniting material inside the cup or using a pump to remove the air) to produce suction and left between 10-20 minutes. It is particularly suitable for rheumatism, acute strains and sprains, facial paralysis, haemiplegia, common colds and cough. There are other forms of cupping but at Xinsheng due to safety reasons, only vacuum-cupping is used.

Chinese herbs consist of plants, animals and minerals. Shen Nong’s Herbal Classic (Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing), written around the 1st or 2nd Century AD is the oldest known book on Materia Medica that has survived. It recorded 365 herbs and their uses and has exerted significant influence on the subsequent development of Chinese herbs.

Herbs are most often used in combination as this way the herbs can enhance and harmonise each other’s effectiveness.