Cupping and coining: I did it long before Michael Phelps did in Rio

The Chinese treatment, also known as baguan, utilizes heated glass cups to create a suction on the patient's skin, causing a circular mark that looks like bruising on the skin. [Photo provided to China Daily]

I ran into Sok Pheakdkey, a 39-year-old driver at a local construction company, at a cupping clinic where he had undergone treatment for fever.

"Now I feel I am fully recovered. Do you see the sweat coming from my head and back? That means the fever is gone," he says. He says the medicines he bought from a pharmacy brought his fever down, but only for a while.

"I don't mean to say that I don't trust medicines. But in my experience the best way to treat these illnesses is coining and cupping. My body seems to be addicted to this type of treatment even though it hurts," he says.

The Cambodian Health Ministry does not advocate cupping, and warns that it could be a health risk.

Health Ministry spokesman Ly Sovann told me that the practice is not known to cure any illnesses, and in fact can be dangerous for people with high blood pressure or heart problems. Still, the practice is not banned in the country because it is almost a way of life for Cambodians, he says.

"My advice is that Cambodia people should start changing their habit. They should consult physicians or doctors first if their illness is something related to high blood pressure and heart attack. Then after they talk with the doctor, of course they can do coining or cupping if they prefer," he says.

Associated Press reporter Sopheng Cheang grew up in Cambodia and has lifelong experience with coining and cupping.