In the last few decades, the medical industry has turned over a new leaf. Given a choice, people are gearing more towards alternative medicine over allopathic drugs and invasive procedures. Who wouldn’t if you are being promised good health minus all the unpleasant side effects?
One such method that has grabbed attention is the cupping therapy. Although still new in the United States, this healing technique is quite ancient and has been widely practiced for years in China, Egypt, Middle East and Eastern European cultures.
So, what exactly is the cupping therapy?
A trained therapist applies heated cups to specific areas of your body, generally muscular areas like the back, stomach, arms and legs. The cups could be of glass, plastic or silicone.
There are different ways in which the cupping therapy is done. The first is the “dry cupping” or the “fire cupping” method. A cotton ball is soaked in an inflammable substance such as rubbing alcohol. The cotton ball is set on fire and used to heat the cups. Alternately, the cups are heated in hot water or oil.
Once the cup is well-heated, it is immediately placed on the patient’s skin. As the skin rises, it seals the cup off completely. The heat creates a vacuum causing the skin and muscles to form a small puff. The cup is allowed to sit in this position for a few minutes before it is safely removed. In the “moving cupping” method, the cups are not held in a single position, but are moved smoothly over different areas. The therapist first applies oil or cream to the skin before the cups are applied. The reddened areas are due to the suction and expansion of the blood vessels.
The second method is the wet cupping method. After applying and removing the cups, the cupping therapist makes small incisions to the skin. The suction is repeated to draw out small quantities of blood. The third method is the combination of cupping with acupuncture. This one is the most effective of all the three. It involves inserting needles before the cup is placed onto the skin.
As a healing therapy, the cupping method works deep at the tissue level. It:
• Gets rid of toxins accumulated in the tissues.
• Relaxes the body by relieving tensed and knotted muscles.
• Reduces inflammation.
• Improves blood circulation and thus promotes healing.
• Boosts immune function helping fight flu, colds and allergies.
• Enhances performance by stimulating energy flow across the body.
Cupping Therapy and Pain Mitigation
The cupping therapy is known for its varied therapeutic effects. However, pain mitigation is among the most well known. It is for this reason that a number of athletes swear by it. It helps for the following pain conditions:
• It relieves migraines and tension headaches.
• It reduces the intensity of joint and muscle pains; thus, you can get relief with muscle injuries, back aches, neck pain and stiffness.
• People with rheumatism or arthritis-induced pain can consider the cupping therapy as a long-term remedy.
• It soothes pain triggered by respiratory conditions.
• You will be surprised to know that the cupping therapy can also make toothaches more bearable.
• For women who suffer severe menstrual cramps, the cupping therapy can be an effective alternative for pain medications.
The cupping therapy has been in use since the time immemorial. It is an age-old healing therapy, which is used to get relief from the pain. The origin of this therapy is also unknown. Owing to its several advantages, this therapy is also practiced in various parts of the world.
In this therapy, cups are placed on the skin. These cups are used to create the low pressure beneath the skin. This eventually results in the treatment of various diseases. The heating or mechanical device is also used during the therapy in order to offer to improve the blood circulation. This therapy is excellent in providing perfect healing from various pain related diseases.
The healing mechanism of this therapy is very simple. The cups create the low pressure area beneath the skin. This low pressure helps in improving the blood circulation through the tissues. This improvement in the blood flow helps in providing full nourishment to the muscles and bones of the body.
The improved blood circulation helps in providing strength to the muscles and bones. This strength counters the adverse effect of pain. This therapy is a perfect cure for back pain. Owing to bad lifestyle, millions of people are suffering from back pain. In this disease, the spinal cord becomes weak. So, cupping therapy is the best remedy for this disease. In this, the heated cups are placed on the back. These cups are placed on various parts of the back. These are basically placed on the acupuncture spots. The low pressure is created in the inner parts of the body.
This low pressure is very useful in improving the blood circulation through the body tissues. This increase in the blood circulation helps in providing nourishment to the body cells. This eventually results in improving the overall capacity of the spinal muscle.
It is also very useful in curing the neck pain. According to this therapy, there are five lines of the meridians. On these lines, lies the points on which the cups are placed. In these cups, the fire is placed in order to provide energy on various points of the skin.
There are various experts that are offering cupping therapy. The main advantage associated with this therapy is that no adverse effect is associated with this therapy. One can go for this healing therapy in order to get relief from various diseases like neck pains, stiff muscles, anxiety, fatigue, migraines, rheumatism, etc. This ancient healing therapy is a perfect cure for these diseases.
Cupping Therapy Treatments Just Got Easier And More Effective
More and more people are seeking natural healing alternatives to treating a myriad of our modern society ailments and illnesses. We see a resurgent interest in acupuncture and “Chinese Cupping Therapy” as treatment techniques and methods to address our health problems. These techniques obviously work very effectively based purely on the longevity of the practices. Cupping therapy is recorded as far back as 1500 years ago as a treatment for pain. Traditional Chinese medicine has the premise that blocked energy flows, referred to as Qi (Chi), along the body’s meridians cause stagnation and toxic build up which eventually causes dis-ease and illness.
Cupping therapy addresses these root cause problems by draining toxic fluids, oxygenating blood is drawn to stagnant muscles, tissue and skin through negative suction and pressure, literally sucking stored waste and toxins through the skin. The technique results in restoring free flow of energy through the body’s energy channels or meridians. Traditionally and still used today, cupping therapy cups are made of bamboo and glass and recently plastic was introduced as an alternative.
A South African based company has revolutionized cupping therapy by the introduction of their medical silicone massage cups. The silicone “cupping therapy massage” cup is easier to manipulate by treatment providers in that it is pliable, a simple squeeze of the cup on application to the skin results in the “suction” necessary to start the treatment. A trained therapist can then “massage” over an area as opposed to the cup staying in place on a specific area. For instance, this cupping therapy massage is very effective in treating cellulite.
Cellulite usually covers a large area on the thighs or buttocks; the cup is moved and manipulated over the whole area in up/down, zig-zag and circular motions. The results in cellulite reduction and elimination is great news to women that have all but resigned themselves to their ongoing “cellulite problems”.
The massage stimulates fibroblast cells to increase collagen and elastin production, and with improved blood circulation and lymphatic drainage the skin tone and texture is vastly improved. Another and very important difference to traditional cupping therapy is that the silicone cups do not leave the associated bruising blue and purple marks on the skin.
Image conscious people need not be concerned with being “cup marked”, at the very worst; a healthy redness to the skin persists for a few hours. Cupping therapy is growing in popularity through-out the world as a natural and holistic treatment for colon blocks, varicose veins, stretch marks, eczema, migraines, addictions, lung disorders and fibromyalgia.
Silicone cups, being pliable and manipulative could introduce new and exciting massage treatments in the future and we welcome any reports on innovative testing of our product to address modern day stress related ailments.
The Heath Benefits of Chinese Cupping Therapy
Body pain is associated with every individual’s life in this world. Pain basically indicates that there is some disorder or imbalance in the body due to some external or internal factors. Right from the ancient times to this modern world various medicines and therapies have evolved to treat different pains in different parts of the body. The modern therapies used are some modification of ancient ones only but the basic concept or logic behind them remains the same.
Among so many therapies, one is cupping therapy. This is basically a 3500 years old China based therapy for reducing body pain. Cupping therapy mainly includes use of plastic or glass cups to create a vacuum on the body part which enhances circulation of blood and lymph through tissues. During ancient times, heat was generated among the glass or bamboo cups and then this heat was applied to the painful part of the body. This heat would help in healing that particular area.
Cupping therapy mainly works on the meridians. Meridians are the energy pathways lying all across the body reaching to all tissues and organs. The energy inside our body, also called as chi, flows through these pathways only. Any disorder in our body is caused due to blockage in smooth flow of energy. So this therapy mainly clears the energy pathways through increasing circulation of blood and oxygen and smooth working of lymphatic system. This is mainly carried out on back portion as our back have maximum no of meridians i.e. five. Moreover this helps in releasing body toxins from the tissues and organs. As the vacuum creates the suction, it reaches deep inside the cells and tissues which causes toxins to move out of cells.
This Cupping therapy is performed in two methods. One is Stationary and another is moving. Basically oil is applied on the body for creating smooth movement of suction cups. Sometimes these cups are kept on a particular part for 5-7 minutes without any movement. This comes under stationary method. While when vacuum pumps are continuously moved on body covering a large area then this is called as moving cupping therapy. At times, five to six cups are placed on different parts simultaneously and removed cyclically. This is termed as Flash Cupping.
Once you are over with this therapy, you may feel some sensation and tingling deep in the tissues. This sensation is the indication of fast blood flow after this therapy. It is very beneficial to apply essential oils just after this treatment so that it reaches inside the tissue, nourishes them and makes your skin glow and shine.
There are so many health benefits of this Chinese cupping therapy. It mainly reduces back pain, headache and fatigue. This regulates and balances hormones in the body, helps in ovulation in women, solves the constipation problem, eliminates skin problem and makes your skin healthy and reduces weight problems. It also strengthens our immune system thus giving us power to fight with attacking diseases.
If you want to try this therapy for yourself then you may visit any health centre who will offer you complete package. You may also get the instruction from the internet so that you can do it for yourself. For this you will have need of cupping set which can be purchased from any medical supplier or you can also order it through on internet from anywhere in the world. Due to the increasing health benefits of this Chinese cupping therapy, it’s becoming popular day by day.