Who remembers back to 2016, seeing Michael Phelps in the Olympics with those round bruises all over his body? Come on… raise your hand… I know you remember. I’d be willing to bet that at that moment you were thinking, “What the heck it that?”
Today, most people know that those mark were due to a type of therapy called CUPPING. Here’s my question for you… Can you tell me what cupping does and why it’s so beneficial?
In this blog I’m go to give you a quick explanation of what cupping is and how you can benefit from getting regular sessions.
Cupping is an offspring of the ancient therapy known as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Over the millennium TCM has grown to include many different therapies such as acupuncture, massage, cupping, gua sha, herbal medicine, and qi kung. The past 30-50 years has shown a marked increase in the popularity and use of TCM throughout the United States. However, there are still many people that regard it as hocus-pocus or have still never heard of it.
The art of cupping involves using a cup-like object that uses suctions, which is created by several sources, to pull the skin slightly into the cup.
There are many different types of cups. They can be made out of glass, hard plastic, silicone, and even bamboo or any other type of wood. The two most commonly used types of cups are either glass – where fire is used to create the suction, or hard plastic – where a pump is attached to the cup to create the suction. Once the suction has been created the cups can either be left in place, moved around, or even left in place while the patient moves around.
The purpose of the suction is to pull stagnant blood, body fluids, and toxins out of the deeper layers of soft tissue. This allows the lymph system to do its job and remove those fluids; allowing new, healthy, nutrient dense fluids to replace what was pulled to the surface.
The are tremendous benefits to cupping. The most immediate is the invigoration of Qi, our primary life-energy element, and blood. It is incredibly effective in the release of adhesions in, and the reduction of healing times of, our soft tissue. Cupping can help to remodel scar tissue, reduce the appearance of age lines, and even reduce the dreaded appearance of cellulite. It is also very versatile and can be used alone or in conjunction with other types of therapies such as acupuncture, gua sha, massage, chiropractic work.
The use of cupping should be postponed if you have any of the following issues:
• Skin inflammation or rashes,
• Open wounds, bone fractures or breaks,
• Deep vein thrombosis or varicose veins.
After a cupping session you may experience bruising (remember Michael Phelps?), tenderness, a sensation of fullness or heat, and possibly (although rare) small blisters..all in the area(s) worked on. Keep in mind that these are all normal side effects and with proper hydration will go away after a few days.
Cupping works wonders in the healing process of injured tissue. The truth is, even though it’s so good for healing, it’s designed for preventative maintenance as well. Regular cupping can help keep the body in balance. It can help keep you physically, mentally, emotionally, energetically, and spiritually fluid. Cupping sessions should be a regular part of your continual body maintenance and if you’re not doing body maintenance you’re already slacking.
If you want to live a long healthy life doing all the wonderful, amazing, fantastic things you love to do, then do yourself a favor…set up an appointment today for a bodywork session with cupping included.