Curious about Cupping?
By now you've probably noticed those circular bruises on the backs of athletes, fitness junkies, or people just out and about. These are marks from cupping therapy.
Cupping is an ancient healing technique that has been practiced for thousands of years in various cultures. Anecdotal evidence reports numerous benefits such as relief from muscular tension or soreness, fatigue, arthritis or other joint pain, menstrual pain, reduced headaches and migraines, lowering cholesterol and blood sugar, improved digestion, sleep, and general immune function. Recent studies have tried to find physiological mechanisms to explain these reported benefits however has yet to arrive at conclusions that satisfy a western, scientific mind.
In this article, I want to give some explanations about my intentions when using cupping, answer some of the common questions, and describe what to expect in a cupping session.
There are a few instances in which I recommend incorporating cupping in combination with massage. I find it particularly useful in decompression of muscular tissue in areas that are overworked or overused. Typically massage uses compression to produce relief from pain, but cupping introduces negative pressure, or suction, that moves the tissue in a different direction. It pulls the tissue up and away. It's a way of introducing new sensation which evokes curiosity which is always beneficial in a healing environment. There are massage techniques that can pull the tissue out, but I find cups are more comfortable, more efficient, and more effective.
Cupping also holds the tissue for an extended period of time, generally 3 to 5 minutes. This extended time is necessary to manipulate fascia, or the connective tissue which takes longer to release than muscular fibers. Helping the fascia to release, is what breaks postural holding patterns, and is what brings lasting relief from chronic muscular tension and pain. Similar to Yin or Restorative Yoga, where the poses are held for 3 to 5 minutes.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, it's thought that cupping draws up old, stagnant blood and toxins to the surface of the skin, so that the lymphatic system can then detox and cleanse it from the body. This then encourages the body to increase blood flow, circulation, and oxygen to the affected area. Also, similar to gua sha, it causes intentional and minimal injury to a specific area in order to stimulate and activate the body's innate healing response.
A full cupping session generally takes about 20 minutes and can be incorporated in with traditional massage and bodywork.
No, it doesn't hurt. If the sensation is ever uncomfortable or intense, you can let the practitioner know to lighten the suction pressure. The marks disappear within a few days to a week. The mark looks like a bruise, but is not sensitive to touch or painful like a bruise from impact. Clients typically feel relief from tension, and occasionally some residual soreness similar to what one might feel after a deep tissue massage.
There are a couple of different cupping techniques. In my practice, I use plastic cups with manual suction, as opposed to glass cups that are heated with fire. I also only practice dry cupping, as opposed to wet cupping, which is essentially bloodletting.
If you want to find out whether cupping could be beneficial for you, I say just give it a try in your next healing session. See for yourself why it's been an ongoing healing practice for thousands of years all over the world. You can schedule a session here.
