Woman in a robe relaxing with RHYTIA by candlelight

Cupping in Europe: kuppaus, bańki and banki

October 11, 2026

Cupping in Europe has a quiet, kitchen-cupboard history. Finns did it in the sauna with cattle-horn cups, Russians kept small glass jars at home, and Greek households have their own name for the cups. It faded from mainstream Western practice in the early 1900s, but it never fully disappeared from family life.

Finland: kuppaus and the sauna

Finland's national inventory of living heritage says cupping, kuppaus, has been practised in the country since the 15th century, while another entry in the same inventory dates the earliest written Finnish records to the mid-16th century. Either way, it is old. The word itself probably comes from the Swedish blodkopp, "blood cup", and the inventory says the practice reached Finland by way of neighbouring Russia.

Three things stand out about the Finnish version.

The cups. Historically they were cut from cattle horn, about 7 to 10 centimetres long, with a thin membrane called a hinnu stretched over a hole at the top.
The people. Most cuppers were women, and the skill usually passed from mother to daughter after a long apprenticeship. They were often also midwives and massage workers.
The place. Cupping was traditionally done in or right after the sauna. The inventory describes the sauna as a historic room for births, washing and massage as well as bathing, and says it was used to warm the body before cupping. Today most cuppers have moved the cupping itself to a shower room and use the sauna only for warming up.

Traditional Finnish cupping is often the wet kind. That is a different practice done by trained practitioners and has nothing to do with a home massager.

The last Finnish household guidebook with cupping instructions appeared in 1907. A century ago, the inventory says, people reportedly believed the practice would only survive in remote areas. It lasted in eastern Finland, then spread across the country again. Formal training for cuppers started in the mid-1980s, and the same inventory says about 80 registered professionals now work in Finland, plus a few dozen who learned from earlier cuppers.

Poland: bańki

In Poland the cups are called bańki, a word close to the Russian banki. Polish sources are hard to find in English, so we have kept this part short rather than guess at details we could not check.

Russia: banki

The travel company Trans-Siberian.co.uk describes banki as small glass jars, most popular in the Soviet era, when they moved from the hands of professionals into ordinary household cupboards. The method was simple: a lit taper went briefly into the jar to warm the air, then the jar went onto the back. As the air cooled, the jar held on.

Russian Wikipedia describes the same pear-shaped glass jars and a cotton wick held in metal tweezers, with the person resting under a blanket for 10 to 15 minutes. It cites a 1956 Soviet encyclopedia for Soviet-era use and says athletes used cupping in sport.

Greece and Italy: the Mediterranean

Cupping has very old roots around the Mediterranean. A bronze cupping vessel from Pompeii, dated to the first century AD, sits in the Museo Galileo's online exhibit. It carries the Latin name cucurbitula, "little squash", and the museum notes the device was already documented in Greece in the first century BC. The Science Museum Group also holds a Roman glass cupping vessel from about 1 to 150 CE.

In Greece, the cups are called ventouzes. Greek City Times calls them a well-known household remedy, practised for centuries and strongly associated with grandmothers, the yiayias. We found no equally reliable source on an Italian grandmother tradition, so we are leaving Italy at the Roman evidence.

Decline, then a second look

The Hektoen International journal says cupping surged in Europe in the 14th century and lost ground from the 17th, though it never vanished. The Science Museum's 2016 blog says its role in mainstream medicine declined through the 19th century and that Western biomedicine has largely not used it since the early 1900s. Its collection has 19th-century London cupping sets in fitted wooden cases, and, a century later, an electric dry cupping machine.

The second look came with celebrity photos in 2004 and the Rio Olympics in 2016. We tell that part in cupping in the USA.

What that looks like now

If you grew up in a Finnish, Russian, Polish or Greek family, you may have a memory of the cups coming out of a drawer. A modern smart cupping massager keeps the idea and drops the flame. Instead of a taper or a heated jar, a small pump does the work, with 12 suction levels and a warm red glow if you switch the warmth on.

Many people use it the way Finns use a sauna: as a quiet ten minutes in the evening. Our guide ten-minute evening wind-down shows a simple routine.

Try it at home

The old kitchen-drawer ritual, minus the flame and with a remote control. Free shipping Australia-wide, 14-day refund.

Shop the RHYTIA massager

The RHYTIA massager is also small, about 9 x 9 x 8 cm, so it travels easily.

Common questions

What is Finnish kuppaus?

It is the Finnish cupping tradition, historically done with cattle-horn cups and closely linked to the sauna. Today it is practised by trained cuppers, often with silicone cups.

What are banki?

Banki are the small glass jars used for cupping in Russia and other Soviet-era households. They were warmed with a flame and set on the back.

Did people in Greece and Italy use cupping?

Yes, going back to Roman times. A bronze cupping vessel from Pompeii survives, and Greek households still use the word ventouzes for the cups.

How long should I leave a cupping massager on one spot?

Start on low suction and try one area for 30 to 60 seconds first. The device shuts itself off after 20 minutes. The step-by-step guide has the full first session.

Who should skip a home cupping massager?

If you are pregnant, have a pacemaker or another implanted device, have a health condition or take blood thinners, check with your GP first. See the safety guide.

Menu

Your cart is empty

Your cart (0)