Fire Therapy: The New "Hot" Thing in Weird Medical Treatment

Sir, your crotch is on fire. Photo: CFP

If being poked by hundreds of needles or massaged by snakes are too tame for you, here's the next hot thing (literally!) in weird medical spa treatment: fire therapy.

And as the name clearly suggests, the treatment involves setting yourself on fire. Brian Ashcraft of Kotaku reports that the fire therapy involves placing a "fire rope" made from some 20 different Chinese herbs on the victim's, er patient's body. After covering the rope with a plastic wrap, two wet towels are placed on top. Then, alcohol is poured on top of the towels and an attendant set the whole thing on fire!

Just to be safe, the attendant is nearby with a wet towel to extinguish the flame in case the patient feels that the fire is too hot.

The procedure could be used in various parts of the body:

Photo: anhuiquanjian

Photo: tupian

Photo: szwtshl

Photo: anhuiquanjian

According to The Nanfang, fire therapy patient described the treatment as "a warm and comfortable feeling. I feel a warmth soaking into my body."

The treatment, supposedly originating from Tibet, is believed by some to relieve stress and according to this clinic could even cure a range of medical conditions from depression, diarrhea, indigestion, and infertility.

No word whether there has been any injuries or fatalities stemming from this practice, but like with many crazy things we've seen on the Internet, what could possibly go wrong?