Hijama is wet cupping therapy: gentle suction to draw circulation to the skin, then tiny superficial scratches to release a small amount of stagnant blood. It is one of the oldest recorded therapies in the world, and a practice the Prophet ﷺ sought and recommended. Here is what it actually involves, and what a session in Flushing includes.
Written by Hasina, certified hijama practitioner · Last updated
Where hijama comes from
Cupping appears in Egyptian, Chinese and Greek medicine thousands of years ago, but for Muslims its place is settled by the Sunnah: the Prophet ﷺ was cupped himself, and spoke of it as among the best of remedies. That is why the practice is called hijama, from the Arabic al-hajm, meaning to draw out or to suck.
What has changed in fifteen centuries is the equipment, not the method. Where practitioners once used animal horns, today it is sterile plastic cups, a single-use blade, gloves and clinical waste disposal: the same points, done safely.
“Indeed, in cupping there is a cure.”
Narrated in the collections of hadith
How it works
A cup is placed on the skin and the air drawn out, creating suction. Blood and fluid move toward the surface, which is what produces the familiar circular mark. Once the area has been prepared, the practitioner makes a few very shallow scratches and reapplies the cup, so a small amount of stagnant blood is drawn off rather than left sitting in tissue.
01
The area is cleaned and cups are placed for three to five minutes to bring circulation up.
02
Cups are lifted and a new sterile blade makes several superficial scratches, skin depth only.
03
Cups go back on for a few minutes, drawing a small volume of blood into the cup.
04
The site is cleaned, dressed if needed, and all waste is disposed of as clinical waste.
The Sunnah cupping points
Certain points are named in the hadith and have been used ever since. They are not a menu to pick from: where the cups actually go is decided at your consultation, from what you came in with. But people ask what the points are, so here they are, with what clients most often bring to each.
Upper back
Al-kahil
The hollow at the base of the neck, between the shoulders. The most used point of all and the one narrated most often. Clients come for tension headaches, a stiff neck and shoulders, and the flat tiredness that will not shift with rest.
Head
Ummu mughith
The crown of the head. Asked for by migraine sufferers and by anyone carrying sinus pressure or a persistent heaviness behind the eyes.
Neck
Al-akhda'ayn
The two sides of the neck, either side of al-kahil. Usually combined with it rather than used alone, for migraine, dizziness and eye strain.
Shoulders
Al-katifayn
Across the tops of both shoulders. Desk work, long drives, carrying children — the complaints that arrive as a band of tightness rather than one sore spot.
Lower back
Al-warik
The hips and lower back. The single most requested area here: lumbar pain, sciatica, and the ache that comes from standing all day.
Legs
Behind the knees and calves
For sciatic pain that travels down the leg, heavy legs, and poor circulation lower down the body.
A full body Sunnah session covers the main narrated points in one sitting, which is why it takes more cups than a session aimed at a single complaint. Either way you agree the number before anything starts.
Wet cupping vs dry cupping
Wet (hijama)
Suction plus superficial scratches. A small amount of blood is drawn out. This is the Sunnah practice and the one most clients book.
Dry
Suction only, no broken skin. Given free before every hijama here as electric massage cupping, and bookable on its own for first-timers or anyone who shouldn't bleed.
Both leave the same circular marks, so the marks are not a sign of how much was taken — they come from the suction, not the scratches. Dry cupping is the better starting point if you are nervous, if you are on a medication that makes bleeding unwise, or if you simply want to know how the suction feels before committing to more. It is also the one to choose when the problem is plainly muscular: a tight back after a heavy week does not need blood drawn to loosen.
What clients come in for
Hijama is not a cure-all, and anyone who tells you otherwise isn't being honest. What it does well is relieve pain and congestion, and give the body a reset. These are the complaints clients most often bring:
Migraines
Lower back pain
Neck & shoulders
Sciatica
Chronic fatigue
Poor sleep
Painful cycles
Fertility support
Stress & tension
What the evidence does and does not show
Cupping has been studied, and the honest summary is that the research is mixed and mostly small. The clearest signals are for pain: several reviews of wet cupping for chronic lower back pain and for neck and shoulder pain report meaningful short-term relief. Tension headache and migraine show up reasonably often too. That is roughly what we see in the room.
What the studies do not do is settle it. Trials tend to be small, follow-up is short, and cupping is close to impossible to blind — you know whether a cup was on your back — so a share of the benefit may be expectation rather than mechanism. Longer-term effects are barely studied at all.
Claims that hijama detoxifies the blood, cures chronic disease or replaces medication run well ahead of anything demonstrated, and you should be wary of anyone selling them. We would rather tell you what we actually observe: people come back for pain relief and for sleep, and they come back because of how they feel afterwards, not because of a study.
Experience is not proof, and neither of them is a diagnosis. If a symptom is new, worsening, or worrying you, see your doctor first — hijama can wait a week.
What is included in a session here
Hijama itself is charged at $10 per cup. Three things happen before it, and none of them cost anything. They are what makes the cupping work properly rather than optional extras.
Free
In-person consultation
Your health, symptoms and medication, discussed properly. This decides where the cups go, how many are needed, and which method suits you. Different medications call for a different approach.
Free
Electric massage cupping
Cups worked across the back like a massage, loosening tight muscle and drawing circulation to the surface before any incision is made.
Free
Red light therapy
A few minutes under red light to warm and relax the area, so the muscle is never worked cold.
$10
Per cup of hijama
The only charge. You agree the number of cups at your consultation, so the total is known before anything starts.
Men and women are both treated, in separate partitioned areas and always by a practitioner of the same gender: Hasina for women, Ahmad for men — more on hijama for women.
What the session feels like
The suction is a firm tugging, strange for the first minute and then oddly comfortable. The scratches are the part people worry about most and notice least: they are shallow, brief, and lighter than a blood test. Many people fall half asleep by the end, and the massage cupping and red light beforehand do most of that.
Afterwards you may feel a little light-headed for ten minutes, then unusually clear. Some feel a wave of tiredness that evening and sleep deeply; that is normal and passes.
Drink plenty of water. Eat light: soup, dates, fruit. Rest rather than exercise.
24 HOURS
No gym, swimming, sauna, or heavy lifting. Avoid caffeine and dairy if you can.
3–7 DAYS
Marks fade. Keep the skin clean; don't pick or scrub. Message us if anything worries you.
How often should you have hijama or cupping therapy?
Less often than most people expect. Hijama is not a weekly treatment, and a practitioner who books you in fortnightly is not doing you a favour. What suits nearly everyone:
FIRST VISIT
One session, then see how you respond over the following week. Nothing is booked as a course before you know how your body takes it.
A COMPLAINT
For something specific and ongoing — sciatica, migraines — two or three sessions three to four weeks apart, then reassess honestly rather than continuing by default.
MAINTENANCE
Every two to three months once things are settled. Three or four times a year suits most people who come regularly.
NOT MORE THAN
Once a month. Wet cupping removes a small amount of blood each time; going more often than that gives your iron no room to recover.
Space sessions further apart if you bruise easily, run low on iron, are recovering from illness, or felt wiped out for more than a day afterwards. Those are all reasons to wait, not to push through. Bring it up at the consultation and the plan changes to suit.
Are there better days for hijama?
Traditionally the 17th, 19th and 21st of the Islamic month are preferred, and Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays are favored. The narrations that name those days are the same ones that describe the Prophet ﷺ being cupped, which is why the practice keeps them.
They are recommendations, not conditions. Nothing about the therapy stops working on the 3rd of the month, and no practitioner should turn you away for coming on a Wednesday. If you are in pain, the best day is the day you can come. Ask when you book and we will tell you the next recommended dates in the current Islamic month, so you can take them if they happen to suit you.
Who should avoid wet cupping
Wet cupping isn't suitable if you are pregnant, severely anemic, taking blood thinners, or living with certain heart, clotting or immune conditions. The massage cupping and red light therapy are often a safe alternative, and both are free. Different medications also call for a different hijama method rather than none at all, which is exactly what the free consultation is for. Always mention your medication and medical history.
