Cupping Therapy

Cupping is a therapy used by placing cups on the body in certain areas with pain. Using negative pressure within the cups, there is a suction on the skin and fascia, pulling the area up into the cup to separate the muscle tissues & fibers. This therapy is easy to perform on any patient, including children.

This method is useful in acute viral illness (common cold, flu), asthma, cough, or any other scenario of retained pathogens. One of the best uses of this therapy is for pain. Pain is a great indicator of whether this method is being performed correctly or not. It is important for the patient to continue breathing to allow oxygen to enter the blood stream to re-oxygenate the area of the muscle being pulled.

Some of the most common places to cup is the entire back and shoulder regions. The area right along T1 of the spine is important for any viral illness (common cold, flu). The rationale to use cupping is to remove any ‘toxins’ and move stuck blood. This will allow the immune system another chance to see pathogens and help clear the body of anything that does not belong.

It is not possible to physically remove toxins from the body. What cupping does, is by bringing toxins up to the surface of the skin, white blood cells called macrophages eat away at the toxins. So by pulling toxins from deep levels of the tissue to the superficial level of the body, macrophages will clear the toxins.

The dark circles can range in color, however these are not bruises. Bruises occur when trauma is initiated on the vessels causing them to burst and let blood out into free space in the muscles. Cupping does not break any vessels, but instead, dilates them to allow more blood to flow and brings stuck blood (purple colored) to the surface of the skin. This is why athletes who use cupping, use it to help improve motions of the joints, to remove any stuck blood.