In a small room in the Iraqi city of Najaf, men are getting small scratches on their backs, with small glass cups placed over them to suction out their blood.
This is an alternative medicine treatment known as cupping, and many Iraqis say their lingering symptoms after contracting the coronavirus have improved thanks to this method.
Alternative medicine practitioner, Hussein al-Maliki says cupping helps the body get rid of deoxygenated blood, helping improve its function.
One recovered COVID-19 patient said his shortness of breath, and pain in his legs dissipated after two sessions.
Cupping therapy can be traced back over more than 6,500 years to ancient China, and has a long history in the Middle East and Egypt. But it has been less popular among more skeptical medical societies.
(Reuters)
