Background: The cupping massage is a form of bloodless cupping. This type of cupping is particularly used to treat muscular tension and musculoskeletal pain, such as chronic neck pain; however the data records on mechanisms and potential side effects are not satisfactory.
Case report: In a study on the effectiveness of cupping massage in patients with chronic neck pain, one patient showed a formation of a lipoma in the cupping area after the first treatment session.
Conclusion: Because of the short time interval between therapy and development of the lipoma, a primary cause is not realistic. This adverse event has not been described in the literature before, and the present report describes the case in summary.