Book Review : Cupping Therapy Encyclopedia by Tamer Shaban

Book Review : Cupping Therapy Encyclopedia by Tamer Shaban

Book: Cupping Therapy Encyclopedia

Cupping Therapy Encyclopedia

By Tamer Shaban

Author: Tamer Shaban is a physician based in Egypt and author of some previous books on cupping therapy including: The Complete Guide to Cupping Therapy

The current book being reviewed: Cupping Therapy Encyclopedia , while a bold-sounding title, is a book that justifies its title when it comes to discussing the subject of cupping in breadth as well as depth, by:
- exploring the history of cupping
- describing the many versions and types of cupping
- the many theories that exist to describe the mechanism of action of cupping (meridian (from Chinese medicine), pain gate, nitric oxide etc)
- Effects, side- effects, precautions and contra-indications.
- The different types of cupping equipment available.
- A summary of steps of how each type of cupping is done
- Over 100 pages of diseases / conditions that can be addressed with cupping therapy, ranging from:

• Cervical pain
• Frozen Shoulder
• Knee pain
• Acute Lumbar Sprain
• Sciatica and low back pain
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Gout
• Headache
• Common cold
• Bronchitis
• Acute Bronchitis
• Chronic Bronchitis
• Bronchial Asthma
• Irritable bowel syndrome & spastic colon
• Chronic gastritis
• Diarrhea
• Constipation
• Hypertension
• Facial paralysis
• Obesity and Weight Reduction
• Diabetes Mellitus
• Hemorrhoids
• Dysmenorrhea
• Amenorrhea
• Urticaria
• Enuresis
• Female infertility
• Male infertility
• Impotence
• Prostatitis

- There is also a discussion on Clinical Trials done on cupping therapy

- PRO
- The author obviously has wide-ranging knowledge about his subject combined over a number of years in the field to produce a detailed work of this type.
- Very detailed book into the breadth, depth, history, theories, research and conditions that can be treated with cupping therapy. A good all-round book to broaden your horizon on the subject of cupping
- A useful reference book / manual for people in this field

- A great number of conditions illustrated backed up with actual cases (referenced to relevant clinical case studies and research if applicable), which would be useful for a cupping therapist to expand their knowledge and understanding

- CON
- Aimed to be an encyclopedia, the book is as stated above suited as a reference manual, however for the beginner, or even a specialist, the amount of wide-ranging detail may be overwhelming.
- Emphasis on meridians from TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) which is discussed in some good detail as a possible mechanism of cupping therapy, which some readers not familiar with TCM will not understand or appreciate.
- While many conditions and their treatment points discussed, and a lot of theories of the mechanism of action for cupping explored elsewhere in the book, the author does not sufficiently clarify which theory the cupping points in the book are derived from, or alternatively does not provide details as to how the points were determined, perhaps for example from his own experience or clinical practice. This point can perhaps be addressed in future editions.
- Similarly the author does not in this edition address or discuss why there are different cupping point systems in use today, and what the relative merit of each system is (if any), perhaps this point can be discussed in future editions, given the author's many years experience with cupping therapy, the author is probably well-positioned to tackle this point.

Conclusion:
The author clearly has extensive knowledge and experience in the field of cupping therapy, having published a few previous books on the subject, and although perhaps the section on meridian theory may be outside some readers field of interest, nevertheless the book contains more than enough material to learn or work with. So in short, a good all-round in-depth book to broaden your cupping knowledge, especially if you are a cupping therapist / trainee-therapist who wants to quickly expand on your current knowledge. The book is a good contender for the title of 'cupping encyclopedia' given that it tries to cover almost all angles and topics related to the subject of cupping therapy.

We give this book a score of 8.5 out of 10. If you are a Hijama therapist or enthusiast and the issues mentioned above are of importance to you, then we suggest you read this book to broaden your knowledge on the subject.


If you liked this book review, leave your comments below, and let us know if there are any other Hijama related books you would like us to review.

FEATURED HIJAMA BOOK:
Cupping Therapy Encyclopedia

AUTHOR:
Dr Tamer Shaban

LOCATION
Egypt


WEBSITE:
http://www.acupuncturecupping.org/p/cupping-book.html

CONTACT DETAILS:
Email: tamer.shaban@gmail.com


Our thanks to Tamer Shaban for allowing us to review his book.If you have any questions or comments, then please leave a comment* below.

If you are a hijama therapist or patient and are happy to share your knowledge or experience via a guest blog-post like the one above, please contact us via the form on the top right corner of the blog .

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