Don’t try this at home: Chinese firefighters step in when cupping therapy goes wrong

In central China, firefighters were called on not to rescue a cat stuck up a tree, but a man with a glass cup stuck to his back.

The man, identified by his surname Hu, had been performing cupping therapy on himself at his home in Wuhan, Hubei province on Tuesday night to treat back pain, the Wuhan Evening News reports.

He had bought the cups – which are used in traditional medicine that has been practised in China for thousands of years – online.

They have a mechanical pump to create a vacuum on the skin in a process that is believed to get rid of stagnation and is used to treat anything from pain to respiratory conditions.