Cupping therapy has been around since ancient times, from the ancient Greeks and Romans, through the Alexandrians and Byzantines, then passed on to the Muslim Arabs and Persians. Cupping therapy is when cups can be applied to any part of the body where the skin surface is level, smooth and fleshy enough to permit a firm seal. These parts include the neck, temples, forehead, back, chest, abdomen, hips, buttocks, thighs, knees, and calves. The cups can be made of:
bamboo,
toughened plastic
glass, or
silicone
Types of Cupping
There are different types of cupping techniques. They vary in the treatment methods and the goals of the practitioner, types of cups used and region that the practitioner has been taught.
Stationary cupping. The cup is placed on in the desired location and left on in the same spot for ten to fifteen minutes. Several cups may be applied in a single treatment.
Flash cupping, a series of cups are applied and quickly popped off in rapid succession. This creates a stimulating effect that's a lot like pinching and pulling the flesh in massage.
Cupping massage, the area to be treated is covered with oil, this allows the cups, once applied, to be moved around while still maintaining a suction bond.
Wet cupping (Hijama) is a form of cupping where the therapist first makes small scratches on the skin’s surface. After the scratches have been made, the cups are re-applied to the surface of the skin using suction. The pressure of the suction then extracts the blood which has accumulated.
How Cupping Works
Traditional healers have long recognized the association between pain and conditions of congestion, stagnation and blockage.
"Where there's stagnation, there will be pain. Remove the stagnation, and you remove the pain."
Not only pain, but the vast majority of all illness and disease comes from stagnation, congestion and blockage - of energy (qi, prana, vital force), blood, phlegm or lymph. The suction applied by cupping breaks up that congestion, stagnation, or blockage, restoring free flow.
Benefits of cupping:
Improves blood flow & circulation
Helps with arrhythmias and coronary artery disease
Improve heart rate variability
Lowers blood pressure
Reduces headaches, migraines, and fainting
Removes toxic metabolites in the blood
Reduces oxidative stress
Lowers cholesterol
Reduces Inflammation
Improves platelet count
Assists with joint pain, rheumatism, lumbago and arthritis
Improves immune health
Reduces cortisol levels
Improves coughs, trouble breathing (dyspnea) and asthma
Assists with both male and female fertility
Improves sleep quality
Combats pain associated with cancer, arthritis, exercise, muscle soreness, neck, lower back, whole body, childbirth & toothaches
Prevent anti-aging effects
Clears congestion and help treat asthma, bronchitis & colds & flu
Improves varicose veins and spider veins
Helps the body detoxify
Assists with pain relief
Helps the nervous system eliminate any congestion in the brain
Improves muscle function Increases range of motion
Assists with menstrual pain, suppressed or irregular menses
Improves nausea and vomiting
Assists with the herpes virus
Improves facial paralysis
Improves skin & hair
Reduces stress, anxiety & depression
Assists with insomnia and narcolepsy
Improves digestion & digestive disorders, appetite, constipation, ulcers, diarrhea & irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Helps with weight loss & cellulite
Encourages tissues to release toxins
Reduces stretch marks and scars
Restores lymphatic circulation and helps remove edema (excess fluid)
Balances the nervous system
Local application for back pain, arthritis, traumatic injuries, lumbago, sciatica
Treats fatigue and weakness in the body
Assists with fever
Aids in preventing liver diseases
Conditions that cupping may help with:
Acanthosis Nigricans
Autoimmune diseases
Acute Trigeminal Neuralgia
Addison’s Disease
Ankylosing Spondylitis
Carpal tunnel
Cervical Radiculopathy
Cervical Spondylosis
Cold Agglutinin Disease
Chronic Fatigue
Diabetes
Epilepsy
Fibromyalgia
Grave’s Disease
Gout
Goodpasture’s Syndrome
Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
Lupus
Pernicious Anemia
Multiple Sclerosis
Myasthenia Gravis
Plantar Fasciitis
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Scleroderma
Always find a qualified cupping practitioner to complete your treatment.