By: Arica Marx, MSOM, LAc.
If you’re like me, you may be coming down from the high of watching the Summer Olympics! Such a beautiful way for cultures all over the world to come together to celebrate our diversity while nourishing mutual respect. As you watched, you may have seen images of athletes with purple rings that look like poorly done tattoos running down their backs, arms, and legs. These purple rings came into the cultural consciousness during the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympics as Michael Phelps entered his events with them all over his back. Although everyone wondered if he had been in a brawl, it turned out he had been receiving cupping.
Cupping is an ancient therapy found in East Asian and Middle Eastern cultures. A common modality used by Acupuncturists, massage therapists, and other healthcare professionals, cupping is believed to cultivate healing by improving the flow of qi, known as the “vital energy” or life force in all living organisms. Specifically, Qi is the form of “electricity” within the body that creates regulatory function within it.
Cupping can help ease a variety of pain-related and musculoskeletal health issues and is popular for neck and back pain, to remove toxins from the body, as well as for headaches, just to name a few. Other health challenges where cupping has been shown to be useful include:
Arthritis
Fibromyalgia
Asthma
Heavy menstrual bleeding
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
GI disorders (e.g., Irritable Bowel Syndrome)
Hypertension
How Does Cupping Work?
Cupping involves creating a vacuum within a cup before it is applied to the skin in targeted areas for specific healing outcomes. Today, most cups are made from glass or plastic in a variety of sizes to accommodate ease of use all over the body. However, more unique versions have been made from bamboo, ceramic, metal, and silicone. The cups are either heated, or manually pumped, in order to “pull” on the skin and increase blood flow to the area. Practitioners may place cups on your back, arms, legs, stomach, or other parts of the body depending upon the goal of treatment. The end result is the infamous purple rings seen on the Olympic athletes. Depending on the treatment objective, one to seven cups may be used during treatment.
Even though there are several cupping techniques, there are three main approaches:
Fire Cupping: The most traditional style of cupping, practitioners set an alcohol soaked cotton ball aflame and quickly thrust it inside a glass cup to create the necessary vacuum before strategically placing it on the body. The heat from the flame sends the oxygen out of the cup thus creating the desired suction effect.
Dry Cupping: The more modern approach, dry cupping utilizes cups typically made of plastic with a suction device built in. When pulled, air is removed creating the vacuum force that pulls at your skin to keep the cup in place.
Running/Slide Cupping: This method is more of a stretch and massage technique with practitioners applying lotion or oil to the skin prior to applying cups. The oil creates conditions for softer suction and allows for movement of the cups across the skin to “draw out” desired outcomes across a specific area. Both fire and dry cup techniques can be used to perform this type of cupping.
Although the cup causes skin to tighten, and may cause some discomfort for a moment, cupping should not cause pain. After treatment, patients may feel a bit tender or sore around the cupping marks but this should dissipate within a few hours. Marks, however, can last a few days so it’s always good to plan treatments accordingly.
Potential benefits of cupping include reduced pain and inflammation, decreased muscle tightness, improved blood flow, and increased range of motion. Although the medical community is still investigating how cupping works, the consensus is that the suction from the cup draws fluid into the treatment area by expanding the skin in order to open the pores, then breaking open tiny blood vessels under the skin (called capillaries) through the vacuum force. The body responds by replenishing the cupped area with healthier blood flow thereby stimulating healing at a cellular level.
Who Should NOT Get Cupping?
Despite all of cupping’s benefits, there are those who should avoid it. Those include anyone who has any of the following:
Anemia
Pacemaker
Bleeding disorders (e.g., hemophilia)
Blood clotting disorders (i.e., DVT or a history of stroke)
Cardiovascular disease
Skin conditions (e.g., Eczema or Psoriasis)
Seizures
Taking blood thinning medications
Children under the age of 4
For pregnant women: cupping should not be applied to the low back, low and upper abdomen, or during the Third Trimester to avoid risk of early contractions
Serenity offers all three modalities described for cupping. You can book a stand-alone appointment or it can be incorporated into acupuncture and massage services too. Have questions? We're just a phone call away: 708-848-4626.
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