Cupping Therapy

Thailand was my introduction to cupping therapy. I watched doctors and massage therapists using this tool and I was curious to learn more about the benefits. When I received my first treatment I knew that I wanted to learn how to employ this technique on my clients and sought to study when back in the UK. In Thailand I was able to watch but could not understand! I have since studied with two teachers each using different cupping methods - both with the gun and with fire.

There are various types of cups that a therapist can choose, in my treatment room you’ll experience glass fire cupping or manual vacuum pump gun cupping and perhaps facial cupping with gentler silicone cups. The fire element is not to apply heat as some may think, it is simply that the flame placed inside the glass cup creates the vacuum that allows the cup to adjoin to the skin. With the manual vacuum pump it is a gun-like tool that pumps air from a valve at the top of the cup that creates the suction. I predominantly use fire cupping.

Why Cupping?

To understand the impact of cupping I first need to explain a little bit about the body. Clients often consider themselves as skin, bone, muscle and organs. In actual fact there are a variety of tissues that make us human and the connective tissue that holds out skeleton together, surrounds our organs and our muscles is vital to the experience we have with our movement. The connective tissues are fed by the vascular and lymphatic systems which supply nutrients via the blood and take away the metabolic waste. Fluid is constantly moving around our bodies and the body strives for fluidity and suppleness. Problems tend to arise where there is stagnation, injury and inflammation. Obstructed areas of drainage can include tight muscles, adhesions and scar tissue all of which can be encouraged to soften with manual massage therapy and cupping.

Cups encourage circulation through vasodilation, alleviate adhesions, clear congestion and stagnation and rehydrate muscle tissue and fascia.

Vasodilation - the action of widening blood vessels that occurs during both massage and cupping. This process stimulates cell metabolism by supplying the tissue with fresh blood. Not only is the tissue being nourished and fed but at the same time the old blood is being removed and interstitial debris taken away.

Interstitial Debris what is this? In short our bodies carry interstitial fluids, which as well as nutrients, also contain waste products that are carried through the connective tissue. Massage and cupping therapy manipulate the tissues encouraging the movement of fluid and the expulsion of stagnant, unwanted waste. If this is becoming hard to imagine think of your kitchen sponge that you use for the washing up. The sponge absorbs fluid and takes the dirt from the dishes and by a process of fluid absorption and expulsion the sponge is refreshed.

Cupping Marks

Cupping can leave marks but, not always. When the moving cup method is applied the cups glide over the skin and therefore there will be little to no marking. However, when a cup is purposefully left on an area of tissue there may be a mark left on the skin. The mark is not a bruise; bruises are injury to the tissue and hurt on impact, this is not what is happening with the cup mark. The cups are instead bringing interstitial fluid, including blood, up toward the surface of the skin and supporting this material being carried away and cleaned out by the systems of the body. Darker marks indicate that there is more stagnation in the form of old blood cells, lymph and foreign toxins that have been sitting in the tissues.

Cups that are applied lightly often do not mark. When there is a strong reaction on the skin - darker marks these tend to lessen over as course of treatrment. How, because the cups clear the tissue and over time there no longer is stagnation to clear. (Remember the kitchen sponge analogy) Another factor effecting the marks is the depth of the tissue that they are applied to, for example over the gluteus muscles compared to those over the scapular.

When your receive cupping you will also feel, as I do as the therapist, the differing textures of the tissue. Sometimes when I glide the cup across an area it may run smoothly, other sites we might find that the is a gristly sensation or a crunchy sensation or it may feel like the cup is ‘sticking’. These different textures indicate the condition of the tissue and indicate where there are restrictions or ‘knots’ or adhesions. I use this as a map for my treatments.

after care

For a few hours after receiving cupping avoid adding excess heat or cold to the body. Ensure that the cupped areas remain covered and so protected from the cold and wait 2-4 hours before having a shower, bath, hot tub or sauna.
Cupping strongly effects the movement of fluid throughout the body so I advise that you make sure that you’re hydrated pre and post cupping treatment.