Many people are familiar with wellness and massage techniques such as dry needling and deep tissue massage, but for some chronic conditions, cupping therapy is the better option for relieving your discomfort.
What does cupping do to help you? It can help relieve your pain and muscle tension by increasing circulation. Improved blood flow helps remove toxins from your tissues and reduces congestion. These are just a few reasons why you should consider cupping therapy to improve your health.
What is Cupping?
Cupping therapy is a practice from traditional Chinese medicine. A massage therapist places suction cups along your skin to relieve muscle tension and reduce pain through improved blood flow.
The cups increase blood circulation to the areas they are placed on the body. This helps your body create new blood vessels and connective tissue in the area to promote fast cell repair and healing.
Traditionally cups were made out of bamboo and ceramic. Today glass and silicone cups are used in cupping therapy. The cups are heated and produce upward suction when placed on your skin. Cupping is most frequently used to relieve pain in your back and neck. Many athletes use cupping therapy to aid in their physical recovery.
Different Types of Cupping
There are two types of cupping therapy. In dry cupping, the inside of the cup is heated and placed on the skin to create suction. With wet cupping, your practitioner may use controlled medicinal bleeding along with the suction of the cups.
A thin needle is used to puncture your skin before, during, or after the cups are placed. Practitioners of Chinese medicine believe this draws out toxins and is beneficial to your health. Your preferences and health conditions help your therapist decide which method is best for you.
How Cupping Works?
Cupping therapy involves heating the cups before placing them on your skin. Your therapist heats the inside of the cup with fire to remove oxygen from the cup. This helps create a vacuum that sucks your skin upwards when the cup is placed on your body.
Some providers may use pumps that attach to the cups to create suction instead of using heat. So once the cups are in place, what does cupping do to provide relief? It offers many advantages and can help manage various health conditions.
What Does Cupping Do to Benefit Your Health?
There are many reasons to consider cupping therapy to improve your health. Not only does it help reduce the symptoms associated with several health conditions, but anyone can reap these benefits from a cupping treatment.
Conditions that benefit from cupping are:
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Gastrointestinal disorders like IBS (irritable bowel syndrome)
- Hypertension (high blood pressure)
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Respiratory issues like asthma
- Migraines
What does cupping do to relieve symptoms associated with these conditions? The practice, derived from Chinese medicine, introduces these wellness benefits:
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Improves Circulation
The most notable benefit of cupping for your health is that it increases blood flow to the area of the body where the cups are placed, improving your circulation quickly. The improved blood flow can help promote cellular repair and reduce muscle tension in those areas.
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Improve Circulation
Focused blood flow to one area of the body can support your lymphatic system in flushing built-up toxins. Boosting your lymphatic system has been known to improve your immune response and enhance the look of your skin.
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Reduce the Appearance of Stretch Marks
With increased blood flow, your lymphatic system removes excess fluid called edema, which can improve the appearance of scars and stretch marks.
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Improves congestion
The suction from cupping therapy can break up congestion in your chest by drawing blood flow and lymph to the lungs. Cupping for improving lung congestion is usually placed on your chest or back, whereas cupping to break up congestion in the sinuses occurs on the face.
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Aid Digestion and Clear Colon Blockages
The parasympathetic nervous system is essential to your digestion, and cupping therapy on the abdomen can stimulate your digestive organs while improving blood flow to the digestive tract. This can relieve digestive issues and even break up colon blockages.
Who Shouldn’t Get Cupping?
You should avoid cupping therapy if you are pregnant. There isn’t enough information on the effects of cupping during pregnancy. You should also avoid cupping if you have any of the following conditions:
- Blood disorders like haemophilia
- Blood clotting issues including deep vein thrombosis or a history of stroke
- If you suffer from seizures or epilepsy
- Certain skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis
You can always talk with a cupping therapist if you’re concerned about the effects of cupping or other Chinese medicine on your medical condition.
What to Expect During Cupping Therapy?
Your cupping therapist will place multiple cups along the area of your body that’s being treated. They will leave the heated cups in place on your skin for several minutes. In dry cupping, your therapist will leave the cups on your skin for 5 to 10 minutes.
They may move the cups after this time to help stretch and massage your skin or remove them completely without stretching. Cups stay on your skin for a shorter time in wet cupping and are removed so your therapist can make a small incision in the area to draw blood.
After removing the cups, your therapist will cover the areas with ointment and bandages to prevent infection. Cupping therapy may leave round bruises or other marks where the cups are attached to your skin. These marks fade over time and generally are gone within one to two weeks.
Contact your cupping therapist or a doctor if you experience any burns, serious pain, or signs of skin infection like fever or persistent redness of your skin.
Try Wayne Massage in Sydney
Wayne Massage offers remedial and traditional Chinese massage therapy in Sydney in a COVID-19 safe facility. All our staff are fully vaccinated, so you can feel comfortable while enjoying the benefits of our various massage services.
Whether you want to try cupping therapy based on Chinese medicine techniques for the first time or you’re interested in sports or deep tissue massage, we can help you improve your overall wellness.
Fill out our online contact form to book an appointment at one of our three locations in New South Wales.
- Hunter Branch: (02) 8073 9376
- Town Hall Branch: (02) 8073 9382
- Kings Cross Branch: (02) 8073 9281
