This is also known as cupping therapy, Chinese cupping, cupping suction or dry cupping. It involves placing glass, plastic, and rubber cups on the skin to create negative pressure and remove the
oxygen.
How does cupping function? The cup has a suction pump that creates negative pressure. However, this is a modern method of creating negative pressure. In the past, you would place a flame underneath the cup and then quickly place it on the skin.
Negative pressure causes soft tissue (skin and fascia, muscles) rise to the surface of the cup and is absorbed into it.
In my practice, I have been using cupping since years. One of my colleagues introduced me to this treatment method. I have seen the success of this simple treatment technique.
I have personally experienced the immediate pain relief that cupping can provide.
Cupping is gaining popularity due to athletes showing off their bruise-like marks, but this treatment has been used for thousands of years by Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners (TCM) to treat various ailments and pain.
What is cupping?
You can either place cups on the affected areas or glide the cups across them in a massage-like manner.
Another option is to leave the cup in one place and ask the patient to move or stretch. Tissue distraction with movement (TDM) is another name for this.
To reduce friction and make massage more comfortable, we recommend using a massage lotion.
To stimulate Qi, acupuncture practitioners will place cups on known points. Some cupping sets include a metal projection that attaches inside the cup and provides acupressure to the area.
You can leave the cups in the desired area for as long as you like, usually around 10 minutes.
What’s cupping therapy used to treat?
Literature has been shown to have the following benefits when used in cupping:
- Reduce pain
- Reduce tenderness
- Increase mobility
- Improve tissue oxygenation
- Enhance function
- Reduce Inflammation
Is cupping therapy painful?
While it might seem strange and painful, cupping can be quite comfortable. It all depends on how much suction you use.
It is important to consider the size of your cups. The more comfortable the treatment, the larger the cup. You may feel like you are pinching with smaller cups. To reduce discomfort, the therapist will choose the largest cup that is compatible with the area being treated.
You may feel mild discomfort when aggressive cupping is done to sore or tight muscles. This may feel similar to a deep tissue massage, or myofascial release using a foam roller.
How does cupping work?
It can also appear that the treatment has left residual marks. However, unlike bruises, these marks don’t last more than a few days and aren’t tender.
How does cupping work?
Cupping therapy refers to a type of medicine where a local suction is applied to the skin using heated cups. It is most common in Asia, but it also occurs in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. Cupping, like all alternative medicines, has been labeled a pseudoscience and its use as quackery.
Cupping practitioners use cupping therapy to treat a variety of medical conditions, including chronic low back pain, fevers, poor appetites, indigestion, and high blood pressure. They also offer treatment for anemia, stroke rehabilitation, nasal congestion, fertility, menstrual cramping, and other medical conditions.
Although cupping therapy has been claimed to be beneficial for many ailments, there is not enough evidence to support this claim. There are also some health risks, particularly from dry cupping or fire cupping. Skin discoloration and bruising are two of the side effects of cupping therapy.
Source: https://myphysiosays.com/2017/04/13/what-is-cupping-therapy/