You know when you are on the street and you see somebody that looks like they have some skin disease and your mind is like "it's not contagious, don't be a jerk" but your body is like "uhh, maybe take a few steps back just to be sure."
This is how i felt for many years when i would see the sight above. Every now and then I would see people with these red circles on their back, and it would make me a bit hesitant. It wasn't until a few years into being in Taiwan that I found out what it was.
It's a type of Chinese medicine treatment called for lack of a better translation "hot bottle." in which they put a hot bottle on your back which acts like a vacuum and it sucks on your back. What is it a treatment for? Well, everything. The thing about Chinese medicine is that each practitioner has their own treatment style and they profess that this style can treat everything that ails you. Whether it be acupuncture, hot bottle, or manipulating your chi, they will say that their style can be used to treat everything.
I personally haven't tried any of these so I can't speak to their effectiveness. I really would like to try though, but it's more the attitude of the doctors which really puts me off. For the most part the reaction that most patients have is that they feel better for awhile after the treatment but then it's back to normal.
I would like to learn more about this particular treatment though. For starters, does the positioning of the bottle have different effects? Well for those truly interested, you can try this at home with a vacuum cleaner and report back.
