Cupping

Cupping is one of the tools used in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

It has also been used for thousands of years not only in China but all across the world. One of the most ancient medical books from Egypt noted the uses of cupping as far back as 1550 B.C.

Cups are put on the skin to create suction. The cups can be made of glass, bamboo, earthenware and more recently silicone. Cupping is used for a wide variety of purposes, more commonly to help with myofascial pain, inflammation, blood circulation, relaxation and as a type of deep tissue massage. Cupping can be known as ‘dry’ or ‘wet’. Wet cupping refers to combining the cupping with the insertion of acupuncture needles or lancets to draw a small amount of blood while applying the cup. In the west, dry cupping is more commonly used.

To create the vacuum within the glass cup, cotton soaked in alcohol is lit on fire and placed within the cup to quickly burn the oxygen, this will then form a vacuum if placed on the skin. When using silicone cups simple pressure will create a vacuum or sometimes the air is sucked out with a pump through a valve on the top of the cup.

There are many techniques that can be applied to the cups depending on the desired outcome.

Cups can leave red marks or bruises on the skin that generally resolve in 3-4 days.