Grammy-award nominee Machine Gun Kelly (MGK) posted a video of leeches sitting on his tattooed stomach in a ritual with many purported health benefits for the skin and circulatory system.
Leech therapy dates back to 1500 BC when ancient Egyptians used it for remedial purposes well before people had any concept of disease. The purported benefits range from heart health to improving digestion.
Saliva from the parasitic worms has anti-blood clotting properties that some surgeons still use in the recovery from reconstructive plastic surgery and other procedures where that is a risk.
The MGK’s post, born Colson Baker, with the worm-like creatures did not include a reason for using them, such as digestive relief.
Rapper MGK (pictured) posted a video of leeches sitting on his stomach, sucking his blood, to his Instagram story – calling the worms his ‘best friends’
The star posted the video to Instagram in which he referred to the slimy creatures on his stomach as ‘my best friends,’ though he did not say why he used leeches.
Leech therapy, or Hirudotherapy, has become common for healing after facial surgery and for its ability to preserve soft tissue.
The therapy consists of placing leeches on a certain area, allowing them to stick their three jaws with tiny rows of teeth into the skin, infusing it with coagulants in their saliva.
Leech saliva contains an enzyme called Hirudin, which thins the blood and prevents clotting.
It is often used in the recovery process for operations like skin grafts and reconstructive plastic surgeries, as sometimes complications emerge that cause clotting at the site of the operation.
This is not the first time MGK has professed his love of leech therapy. In 2021, he posted a video showing leeches sucking on his tattoos, and fans were disgusted.
One tweeted: ‘Out of all the things Machine Gun Kelly has done.. this is by far THE WORST!’
Another said: ‘I’m going to have nightmares about them after seeing that story as I’m about to sleep.’
Hirudin keeps the blood flowing and reduces this potentially life-threatening clotting.
Its ability to keep blood circulating can also assist in the process of healing tissue damage – as it keeps circulation going through the damaged area.
Some hospitals even still use leech therapy on rare occasions.
Dr Rod Rezaee, director of head and neck surgical oncology at University Hospitals in Shaker Heights, Ohio, said: ‘Despite all the technical advances in modern medicine, in certain post-surgical situations, we do still rely on one of nature’s most primitive organisms – the leech – to assist us in achieving a good outcome.’
Leech therapy has been around for thousands of years for reported benefits to skin and circulatory system health. The bloodsuckers’ saliva contains an anticoagulant called Hirudin
The bloodsuckers were popular thousands of years ago in procedures called ‘bloodletting’ that persisted until the 19th century.
The practice was based on the classical ideas of Hippocrates and Galen, an ancient Greek physician, that humoral imbalance was the cause of disease.
Therefore, leeches were used to treat a wide range of conditions as people believed an excess of blood was the culprit.
Why MGK was using leech therapy, and what his goal is with the therapy is not clear.
The Cleveland native is not the only celebrity adherent of Hirudotherapy, as model Miranda Kerr and actress Demi Moore swear by the treatment’s anti-aging effects.
Ms Moore said in 2008 she uses the ‘high-level blood suckers’ to detoxify her blood.
The post comes on the heels of MGK’s fiancée Megan Fox’s admission that the couple drink each other’s blood for ritualistic reasons.
Fox, 36, elaborated more about the ritual during an interview with Glamour UK a few months ago.
‘So, I guess to drink each other’s blood might mislead people or people are imagining us with goblets and we’re like Game of Thrones, drinking each other’s blood,’ she shared.
‘It’s just a few drops, but yes, we do consume each other’s blood on occasion for ritual purposes only.’
Leech therapy carries the risk of bacterial infection and people with compromised immune systems are discouraged from trying it.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk