Cupping
What is Cupping Therapy?
Cupping is the application of glass cups containing reduced air pressure (suction) on the surface of the skin. Through the use of heat, a vacuum is created causing the skin to be sucked into the cup. Cups are left in place for 5 minutes to ½ hour. They can be left stationary or moved along the skin. This is called running cupping, or gliding cupping as your acupuncturist slides the cups along your skin. It is also called Fire Cupping, Chinese cupping therapy, Chinese Medicine Cupping and cupping treatment.
Chinese Medicine Cupping
Chinese Cupping Therapy
Cupping is an extremely beneficial therapy, which gives a person a feeling of flexibility and lightness. It is a painless, safe and inexpensive therapy.
Cupping Treatment Benefits You if you have:
• Pain
• Diminished Range of Motion
• Blanching when the flesh is pressed
Fire Cupping will alleviate the following:
• Muscle Pain (Back, Neck etc)
• Joint Pain (Arthritis) (Joint swelling)
• Tense Stiff Shoulders
• Frozen Shoulder
• Sciatica
• Muscle spasms
• Chills & Fever
• Common Cold or Flu
• High fever
• Congestion (throat and lungs)
Cupping Assists the Following Issues:
• High blood pressure
• Lung infections
• Arteriosclerosis
• Stroke
• Vertigo
• Insomnia
• Headaches (Migraines)
• Stomach aches
• Respiratory disorders like bronchitis and asthma
• Gastric disorders like diarrhea, dysentery and constipation
• Intestinal disorders
• Kidney disorders
• Gallbladder disorders
• Gynecological Disorders
• Liver disorders
• Depression
• Rheumatism
• Anxiety
• Fatigue
• Cellulite
Benefits of cupping include:
• Improved blood circulation
• Improved flexibility
• Better energy flow
• Loosens tight muscles
• Stimulates digestive system and nervous system
• Clears colon blockages
• Causes the tissues to release toxins
• Activates the skin, veins, arteries and capillaries
• Activates the lymphatic system
Cupping for muscle tension
Cupping is also useful for muscular tension and pain. It can treat a minor sprain to pull stagnated blood from muscles to the surface. Many of my clients work on a computer all day. They come in for a cupping treatment to release the tension between their shoulder blades.
When pain is felt, it is due to a lack of oxygen to the cells regardless of the cause or type of pain. When the blood and lymph circulation is sluggish or compromised in an area or cannot be spread to the cells waste by-products start to clog up the system.
How Does Cupping Work?
The suction between the cup and the skin causes the muscle and skin to separate slightly. This allows for cellular waste products in the muscles and fascia to be drawn towards the skin. This helps the knots and tension in the muscles to release.
The technique heals injuries and sore muscles by drawing the pathogenic factors out of the muscles into the skin where it is more easily expelled by the body.
If there has been injury or stagnation in the muscles for some time, circular red or purple blotches may appear on the skin if the cups are left stationary for a number of minutes. The red marks offer evidence that the stagnation and pathogens are being released. These dark spots can take several days to dissipate, but they are painless. If you are going to a party, you might not want to wear a backless dress, unless you are Gwyneth Paltow who wore them with pride to the Oscars!!
How Do the Cups slide or glide along the skin?
Patricia uses a Chinese tonic oil, a soothing mix of mint, eucalyptus and fennel that moves stagnation and nourishes the skin to help the cups move and potentiate the treatment.
Cupping to Eliminate Colds and Flu
Because cupping draws pathogenic factors to the surface, it is often used for treating colds and the flu. One of the cardinal signs of coming down with a cold is a stiff neck and aching upper back muscles. This is where your defensive qi (Immune system) is fighting to keep the pathogen from entering deeper levels of your body. Your grandmother was right when she told you to wear a scarf and stay out of drafts. The pathogens Wind and Cold enter the back of your neck!
How can Cupping assist in disease prevention?
Like acupuncture, cupping follows the meridians (energy channels). There are five meridian channels on the back, and these are where the cups are usually placed. Using these points, cupping can help to align and relax qi, as well as target more specific maladies. By targeting specific meridian channels with the cups, Patricia strives to ‘open' these channels - the paths through which life energy flows freely throughout the body, through all tissues and organs, thus providing a smoother and more free-flowing qi (life force).
History of Cupping
The earliest record of cupping is in Ebers Papyrus, one of the oldest medical textbooks in the world. It describes in 1,550 B.C. Egyptians used cupping. Archaeologists have found evidence in China of Chinese cupping dating back to 1,000 B.C. In ancient Greece, Hippocrates (c. 400 B.C.) used cupping for internal disease and structural problems. Taoist herbalist Ge Hong documents cupping in his ‘Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergencies’ in 300 AD.
Cupping vs Massage
Cupping is much like the inverse of massage - rather than applying pressure to muscles, it uses gentle pressure to pull them upward. For most patients, this is relaxing and causes a relieving sensation.
Weight Loss and Cellulite Cupping
For weight loss and cellulite treatments, oil is applied to the skin, and then the cups are moved up and down the surrounding area.
Call for a free consultation with Patricia and see if cupping can assist you.