Are Your Muscles
Stiff and Achy?
Massage Cupping or Suction therapy is an ancient art found in many cultures to relieve back, neck, shoulder, and other musculo-skeletal pain.
Cupping has been a part of many cultures but also Chinese medicine for thousands of years and is practiced today by many acupuncturists and herbalists.
The cups utilized are often made of glass but another way to do cupping is to use plastic cups equipped with one-way valves. As the cups are placed on the patient, a hand-held pump draws out the air through the valves. The clarity of the glass allows the cupping practitioner to gauge the intensity of the suction and evaluate the energy level of the patient.
The cups can be placed along the back and left stationary or massage oil is sometimes placed on the skin before hand so that the cup can be moved around.
This method is called ‘moving or gliding cupping’.
Expect there to be a ‘skin rash’ after cupping, but this fades in 2-3 days and is indicative of how ‘stagnant’ the blood flow to the muscles have been.
Subsequent cupping improves fresh blood flow to the muscles thereby relieving pain and stiffness.