An image of a New Zealand rugby player’s detox treatment has been met with a mixed response.
All Blacks star Sonny Bill Williams posted the image of himself receiving Hijama cupping therapy on Twitter to his 542,000 followers.
Some questioned whether the treatment hurt while others praised the detox method.
Hijama, also known as wet cupping, is an Arabic technique which involves cutting the skin and drawing out blood using suction cups. It can supposedly be used to treat a variety of ailments.
But Brad McKay, a doctor on the Australian version of Embarrassing Bodies, said there was no evidence of the treatment being beneficial.
"The whole theory about the cupping technique is that it's releasing toxins, releasing bad blood from your body... but basically it's just causing you to get a bruise underneath your skin. There's no therapeutic benefit at all," he told Mashable Australia.
But Jennifer Jones, a traditional Chinese medical practitioner, told the site that wet cupping could be used on people with high blood pressure.
Earlier this year, Dr Sirfaz Nazir, from the British Cupping Society, warned that cupping needed to be standardised in the UK after hearing of incidents of bad practice.
He told the BBC: "We are trying to emphasise the need for standardisation, the need for ensuring practitioners are trained adequately and the environment they practice in is of an adequate standard."
