SURVEY RESULTS: How painful, sore and scarring is Hijama?

Further to the survey that we conducted between 16 October, 2010 to 7 January, 2011, here are results finally, apologies for the delay as we had a few technical problems collating and presenting the data.

How painful, sore and scarring is Hijama? - a quick survey

62 people took part in the survey, thank you to all who took part.

Results are as follows, note that the top answer in each multiple-choice question is highlighted bold:

1) Have you ever had hijama therapy?
YES.........61
NOT YET..... 1




2) What is / was your PERCEIVED pain score out of 10 BEFORE you had hijama therapy for the first time ?
(1 being HARDLY painful and 10 being VERY PAINFUL)

SCORE - RESPONSES - PERCENTAGE

1.............17..............27%
2..............6..............10%
3..............4...............6%
4..............4...............6%
5..............8..............13%
6..............3...............5%
7..............9..............15%
8..............8..............13%
9..............2...............3%
10.............1...............2%


3) What was your ACTUAL pain score out of 10 AFTER you had hijama therapy for the first time ?
(1 being HARDLY painful and 10 being VERY PAINFUL)

SCORE RESPONSES PERCENTAGE

1..............25..............40%
2..............10..............16%
3...............9..............15%
4...............9..............15%
5...............5...............8%
6...............0...............0%
7...............2...............3%
8...............1...............2%
9...............1...............2%
10..............0...............0%

4) Did you feel sore after the hijama therapy?
Please select one which is most relevant

A) Yes, and the pain was unbearable / for an unacceptable length of time...3...5%
B) Yes, but the pain was negligible / only for minimal amount of time..32..52%
C) No, any pain during treatment completely faded at the end...6..10%
D) No, no pain or soreness felt after the treatment...20..33%



5) Did hijama therapy leave scarring marks on your skin that are still visible?
Please select one which is most relevant

A) Yes, the marks are unacceptable...2...3%
B) Yes, but the marks are negligible..12..20%
C) No, any marks have completely faded..30..49%
D) No, no scarring marks resulted from my treatment..17..28%


6) Any other comments?:
Please add anything else you may want to with regards to the pain, soreness and scarring from hijama therapy

We had a good mix of comments, a selection of which is given below. Thanks once again to all who made these interesting comments.

- "Thanks to Allah , I always feel relief and rest after hijama.. It is an ideal treatment that Mohamed PBUH choosed for us.."

- "I have the opportunity of having Hijama done by two different therapists. The first experience was almost painless as compared to the Second one. My Personal observation is that MAYBE, repeat , MAYBE it depends upon the types of cuts applied to the skin. I have had it done on my back for lower back pain. The First therapist probably made LONG CUTS, whereas the Second one made small, small ones !!. Or it can be the pressure applied by individuals.wabs.."

- "I thank Allah (SWT) for giving me the chance to do Hijama. It has changed my life completely and my health is so much better. It is important to have Aqeedah that YOU WILL GET CURED - only then will Hijama work for you. First few days after hijjama its uncomfortable. There is intense itching once the scar marks are healing. Black seed oil (zayt habbatus sauda') was used to heal the site of hijama, and it's effect very good, better than Bethadine solution. This is my experience since 3 years ago. Alhamdulillah."

- "When the hijama began a cup was being moved around all over my back. That was agony. I think I had to ask for it to be stopped in the end. My son who had hijamah in Egypt said that it wasn't necessary to do that procedure anyway. The rest of the cupping was relatively painless."

- "Minimal pain and very refreshing therapy. liberating and made me feel excellent for days."

- "Itchy feeling at local site".

- "The cure of Allah, with no doubt will have no negative effect on an individual. I personally have been studying hijamah for a year now, and not one of my patience or even myself have complained about it. hijammah is practiced by us, but the cure is from Allah".

- "This may look and sound simple in term of cure.No drug being use at all. The cure is immediate and you can see and witness the result. Eg, you have high level of blood pressure- when occurring the blurred vision, the doctor will normally prescribe aspirin or heparin or warfarin the family of drug for thinning the blood- Just give an immediate bloodcupping on the head between the neck - Believing is seeing - Result on the spot. This happen to my brother. Will write more if time and place permits. - A K Mohamed

- "Pain of Hijamah incisions is just like the bite of an insect, it also depends on the depth of incisions, an experienced Hijamah therapist can control & reduce the pain perfectly. The scalpel / blade should be extremely sharp, so as to open the epidermis with the minimum hand pressure. I use Scalpel # 22, which I have found the best in sharpness, it gives a good grip to Hejama therapist for controlling the incision depth."

- "What I learnt on NHNF clinic and from the people who is doing as a traditional way is slightly different from the way I learnt from one brother and it is painless and more comfortable".

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Thank you all for completing the above survey, and we hope the results will give you a better understanding of the 'side-effects' of hijama therapy, especially if you are considering having hijama therapy for the first time. Any further questions or observations, 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 on this blog, please send me an email to: hijama.mail@gmail.com.

*Comments are moderated to prevent spamming so may take some time to appear
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