Horrifying images have emerged of a man left with seven holes in his back after undergoing cupping therapy which went wrong.

63-year-old Li Lin from Chengdu, China, was promised that the treatment would make his 'frozen shoulder' feel better, reports the People's Daily Online.

The man says he had been having cupping treatment every day in the same place for around a month when large blisters started to appear.

Shocking: 63-year-old Li Lin received daily cupping treatments to cure his case of frozen shoulder

From May 22 to June 20, Li underwent cupping in a small massage parlour to try and cure his frozen shoulder.

Frozen shoulder is a condition that leads to pain and stiffness in the shoulder and in some extreme cases people are unable to move their shoulder at all.

He said: 'The clerk advised me to stick to cupping for a month to cure my frozen shoulder'.

Cupping is a therapy in which heated glass cups are applied to the skin creating suction and are thought to stimulate the flow of energy inside the body.

During treatment, the man had the cups placed in exactly the same place every time.

Li said that during the last ten days, blisters began to form on his back from the locations the cups had been placed.

Instead of stopping the treatment, he asked his wife to pop the blisters before rubbing his back with oil.

Doctors say that he was lucky he went to the hospital when he did otherwise he would have developed sepsis

On June 20, the man went for cupping treatment and during his walk home, he began to feel uncomfortable and had a high fever.

His family rushed him to the hospital.

Surgeon Xie Liang said that when Li was sent to the emergency room with a fever of 37.7 degrees and his back was completely swollen.

On examination, it was found that he had a bacterial infection.

Doctors said that it was lucky that Li came to the hospital when he did as if he had continued then he would have developed sepsis.

Medical staff said that the cupping should not have been done in the same position as it causes skin burns and infections.

Li's situation is improving and is not considered life threatening.