Hijama Therapy aka Cupping for Hair Growth

I’ve been getting some requests to cover the topic of something known as Hijama, aka cupping, which literally means “sucking” in Arabic, and I’ve seen a growing interest on this on Youtube as well as its presumed ability to treat hair loss and regrow hair.

Hijama or cupping therapy, is an ancient form of alternative medicine in which therapists put special cups on various parts of the body, including the scalp, to create suction with a tight vacuum after incisions have been made to draw out blood. People get it for many reasons, some being to alleviate pain, inflammation, increase blood flow, and even for treating hair loss. 

Hijama is said to be pretty popular amongst the Muslim communities as it was recommended by the Islamic prophet, Muhammad for its claimed therapeutic benefits but many ethnic groups also use this technique, especially people from India seem to use this as a way to treat hair loss. 

The purpose of Hijama on the scalp is to use the suction to open up the hair follicles and promote blood circulation to help maintain the hair, while getting rid of toxins and DHT that build up underneath the scalp. 

So, before cupping therapy happens, a deep tissue massage takes place on the scalp and then cupping is placed on the scalp with suction so that a vacuum is created. This is left on for a few minutes, and is known as dry cupping, and then it is removed by releasing the pressure. Light incisions on the scalp are created using a blade and then the cup is placed back on the same area and suction is applied to create a vacuum again. This is where all the bad blood including chemicals and toxins like DHT are suctioned out. The dark red blood is coagulated into a jelly like substance and is discarded. This process can then be repeated to other areas on the scalp 2-3 times. 

Now that you have an idea of how Hijama therapy works, let’s take a look at a clip to see exactly how it is done. 

This guy is from India and came to a clinic to get Hijama therapy to treat male pattern baldness. We can see he is thinning on the temples and the crown region and seems to be showing us his concern for hair loss. He ended up shaving his head because I read that you would need to shave it in order to get the suction to properly work on the scalp. The doctor points on the areas that is thinning and shows us the place he plans on putting the suction cups. After placing the cups for a few minutes, the doctor removes them and creates multiple slits on the areas to draw blood on both temples and the crown. You can see the blood accumulating and coagulating inside the cup as it is turned into a jelly like substance. It’s pretty gruesome but he doesn’t seem to be in any discomfort or pain during this whole process. 

There’s been claims that people who have received Hijama therapy regrew hair so I wanted to research and see if it really worked for hair loss. I was unable to find any scientific studies on its efficacy so it looks like it is not scientifically proven to regrow hair. It may help with blood circulation and like microneedling, perhaps the incisions made on the scalp may induce wound healing and growth stem cells and create new blood vessels in the tissue, but there’s no study on this so I can’t really say if it will work for hair loss or not. It does seem a bit barbaric, especially with drawing all of the blood out. If you’ve done this, let me know how it went and if you have experienced any gains in hair. 

 This aspect of drawing blood reminds me when I was younger and how my mom and dad would prick my thumb or knuckles every time I had indigestion, and then squeeze the blood out. If the blood is darker in color, it usually meant an indication of severe indigestion. They think that the thumb is a pressure point that can relieve the build up of gas in the stomach. This may be a Korean thing since every other Korean I told this to knew exactly what I was talking about. I guess it’s also the same when they say you’ll end up dying if a fan is left on in a room while you’re sleeping.

As far as prices, Hijama therapy seems to cost between $40-$80 USD per session in the US, and in India, prices range anywhere from 500 to 2500 rupees, which is between $10-$35 USD but also depends on the number of cups used and the areas treated. 

 Anyway guys, that’s its for today. Let me know what your thoughts are on Hijama or cupping therapy. I think there are far better ways to treat hair loss, with science to back it up, like finasteride, minoxidil, and microneedling, but I would really love to hear from anyone who has tried it and has seen results. It doesn’t have to be on the scalp so please do share.