Cupping Details
Cupping Therapy is an ancient treatment modality of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) that has been used for thousands of years to treat a myriad of health concerns.
Cupping Ttherapy is a technique that involves placing glass, plastic or silicone cups on the bodys surface. By creating a vacum within the cup, the underlying muscle layer is manipulated to improve blood circulation within the tissues. It is effective at stretching tight fascia and muscles, helping to eliminate adhesions. Cupping gets you moving better and pain free, with its effectiveness in increasing blood flow and oxygen to the injured area, resulting in the release of anti-inflammatory chemicals in the body. This potent technique is fantastic for both musculoskeletal pain and restriction, as well as relaxation and recovery.
Fixed Cupping: Cups are left in place for a specific time, before being removed. You may be left with ‘cupping marks’ after this treatment. Cupping marks are perfectly round marks on the skin made by the cups. Fire glass cups, silicone and vacum cups can all be used for this treatment.
Functional/Sliding Cupping: Functional Release Cupping (FRC) seeks to remove or decrease restrictions in tissue which has reduced normal tissue extensibility, improve cognitive tissue layer gliding and restore more natural functional movements. When we add functional movements to an area of the body while being cupped, we improve mobility and joint performance.
The vacuum formed by Cupping draws up the old non-circulating stagnant blood and sticky fluids from the area, bringing them up to the surface and away from the injury so that healthy free circulation can be restored to the affected area, thus creating space for oxygen, living cells and nutrients for faster recovery.
Where there is static blood, lymph, cellular debris and pathogenic factors present in the body, Cupping can leave marks which indicates that the stagnation has been moved from the deeper tissue layers up to the surface.
The colour and pattern of the cupping marks depend on the level of stagnation in the area of application, and range from a bright red to dark purple, usually lasting 3 days to a week – sometimes longer if the person is very sick or sedentary. If there is no stagnation present, there will be only a pink marking which will disappear in a few minutes to a couple of hours.
If you sweat a lot, on a daily basis, you may not mark at all. People who live/work/play in toxic environments (or were exposed to a heavy dose of toxic material) may consistently mark. Sites where there is old trauma or injury may require multiple Cupping treatments to remove all stagnation. You will find in follow up treatments that the marks left will gradually become lighter as the pathogens are systemically removed from the body.