What needle is used for cupping and bloodletting?

Cupping and bloodletting is also a commonly used treatment method in traditional Chinese medicine. It can be used to treat many difficult-to-cure diseases, and the effect is relatively fast. However, a detailed examination is required to determine whether your physical condition is suitable for this treatment method. The most important thing is to persist in it for a long time and not give up halfway during the treatment.

During the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, almost all the acupuncture and moxibustion cases in Zhang Zihe's "Ru Men Shi Qin" were about acupuncture and bloodletting, and he believed that acupuncture and bloodletting were the quickest way to attack evil. By the Ming and Qing dynasties, bloodletting had become very popular for treating diseases, and needles developed rapidly. The three-edged needles were divided into thick and thin types, which were more suitable for clinical applications. Today's disposable pricking needles are more suitable for clinical applications and self-treatment methods for the general public. Yang Jizuo's "Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion" recorded the case records of acupuncture and bloodletting in detail; Ye Tianshi used this therapy to cure throat diseases; Zhao Xuemin and Wu Shangxian collected many bloodletting therapies and compiled them into "Chuan Ya Wai Bian" and "Li Lu Pian Wen".

The theoretical basis of Western bloodletting therapy comes from the ancient Greek medical saints Hippocrates and Galen, who said that human life depends on four body fluids: blood, mucus, black bile and yellow bile. These four body fluids correspond to air, water, earth and fire, which are similar to China's "gold, wood, water, fire and earth", but with an extra "qi" and a missing "gold and wood".

The ancient Greeks believed that blood was the dominant one among the four body fluids. Doctor Galen believed that blood was produced by the human body and was often "in excess", just as the Yin-nourishing school in traditional Chinese medicine said "Yang is often in excess and Yin is often insufficient". Traditional Chinese medicine nourishes Yin, so ancient Western medicine practiced bloodletting. Galen also connected the arteries and veins under the skin of the human body with the various internal organs of the body, the so-called "exterior and interior". For different diseases, he would make incisions in the "exterior and interior" blood vessels to bleed. For example, blood from the right arm vein was used to treat liver disease, and blood from the left arm vein was used to treat spleen disease.

Bloodletting therapy is a type of acupuncture method, namely the pricking method in the "Inner Canon of Medicine". It uses a "three-edged needle" to puncture the superficial blood vessels in specific parts of the human body according to different conditions, release an appropriate amount of blood, and achieve the purpose of treatment by activating blood circulation and regulating qi. Bloodletting therapy plays an important role in the treatment of diseases. Ancient doctors attached great importance to it. The Suwen·Blood, Qi, Form and Will chapter says: "When treating a disease, you must first remove the blood." The Lingshu·Fever chapter says: "For sudden pain in heart hernia, puncture the Taiyin and Jueyin meridians of the foot to remove the blood vessels."