My paternal grandmother and my mother-in-law were supposed to be expert with "bahnkes" (cups). These are thick glass cups about the size of an egg. A piece of cloth soaked in alcohol and wrapped around a stick is heated by fire, inserted into the cup to heat it and the hot cups are placed on the back. The skin is sucked up into the cup like a vaccuumm. The number and pattern of placement was according to the symptoms. They were used for respiratory aliments.
My mother-in-law's bahnkes were left behind when the family came to the States. I wonder if my husband who was then midteens and a frequent recipeint of this treatment was involved in this??