We have discussed some peculiarities of Russian traditional medicine before, however, there are a few treatments that will seem outright bizarre to the unprepared. If you are planning to go to Russia for a long period of time, you may run into one of them.

1. Fire-Cupping

Fire-cupping (банки) is a treatment where a patient’s back is greased up, a piece of burning cotton soaked in alcohol is placed under round glass cups, which creates lower air pressure under the cup, and the cups are placed on the patient’s back. The suction under the cups holds them in place. The activity is referred to as ставить банки.

This is a fairly popular home remedy that’s supposed to help with inflammations and pneumonia, but the science behind this treatment is disputed. After the treatment, the patient will have circular bruise-like marks on their back.

2. Mustard Patches

Another popular treatment for inflammations (воспаление) and colds (простуда) consists in applying ground mustard (горчица) seeds in what looks like oversize teabags (called горчичники) to one’s chest or back. This is supposed to have a warming effect and alleviate the symptoms of a chest cold.

3. Leeches

Leeches (пиявки) are still used in Russia clinics and resorts (санатории) to treat varicose veins (варикоз) and blood clotting (тромбы). According to Wikipedia, Russia produces more leeches than any other country. Leeches used in this treatment are sterile (стерильные) and are destroyed after one session.

4. UV Lamps

People on the Internet are often confused when they come across images of children with ultraviolet lamps shining through a special tube into their noses or throats. Ultraviolet lamps, called кварцевая лампа in Russian, are used in Russian medicine to treat nose and throat infections as ultraviolet is supposed to kill bacteria.

There is a separate but associated use of UV light for vitamin D production, where children would stand in front of a UV lamp much like you would in a tanning salon (солярий) — it was meant to compensate for the lack of sunshine. This practice has been pretty much abandoned elsewhere due to cancer risk (риск рака).

Are there any traditional Russian treatments you have tried? Were you surprised they were still offered? Does your country have any similar treatments?