Cupping therapy is an ancient form of healing that is practiced in both East and West.

For at least three thousand years, the Chinese have been practicing this technique. Combined with moxibustion, acupuncture, and Tui Na massage, cupping is part of the traditional physiotherapy or bodywork system of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). This procedure is administered on the acupuncture points to alleviate blood and chi (energy) stagnation, in the organs stimulated by the acupoint in localized areas of the body.

Cupping therapy in the West traces its origins in Egypt. Around 1550 B.C., the Ebers Papyrus was written and states that treatment via wet cupping eliminates foreign matter from the body. The ancient Sumerians and Egyptians considered cupping as a cure for just about every illness.

The art of cupping was passed on by the ancient Egyptians to the ancient Greeks. Both Galen and Hippocrates were ardent users and promoters of this therapy.

Cupping therapy was passed on to the Muslim Persians and Arabs and from the Greeks and Romans of ancient times. Its use was even sanctioned by the Prophet Mohammed. It is now a popular and important therapeutic modality of Unani Medicine.

Cupping, until the early 20th century, remained an essential component of therapy and medicine in the West, both folk based, alternative, and conventional. In 1826, Charles Kennedy, a US surgeon wrote:

“Cupping therapy has been so popular, and the benefits so long experienced, that no one is required to bring forward endorsements in favor of what it has given only apart from the praise of modern times, as well as the sanction of the most ancient antiquity.”

In the modern age, after being abandoned as a popular form of medicine there is now a resurgence in the use of cupping, which is advocated by acupuncturists and other holistic therapists. Exciting and novel techniques of this ancient art, such as cupping massage, are also being developed.

Cupping’s tremendous ability to promote a state of profound relaxation and deep pleasure is why it’s a very popular treatment used by people throughout the world.

How Does Cupping Work?

Naturopaths have acknowledged the relationship between conditions of blockage, congestion, stagnation, and pain.

And aside from pain, an overwhelming number of diseases and illnesses are caused by blockage, congestion and stagnation of lymph, phlegm, blood, vital fluids, and Chi (vital energy). The sucking effect produced by cupping breaks up and draws out blockage, stagnation, or congestion, bringing to the person free circulation of the humors and vital energies within his body.

Pain is actually, the essence of dis-ease. Dis-ease or suffering is felt when the fluids and chi in the body aren’t circulating well, when the natural functioning and flow of the body has some kind of obstruction or difficulty. Galen, the ancient Greek physician was referring to this when he spoke of disease as being the state antagonistic to nature.

Aside from breaking up and dispersing congestion and stagnation in the circulation of humors, blood and life force, cupping also expels inflammation, toxins, and pathogenic heat by drawing these negative factors to the skin surface for release. Toxins and pathogenic heat can eat away and rot the body when they’re under pressure or submerged, unless they’re sucked out and released from the body. One can even use cupping to alleviate and reduce fevers in the acute phase, and in lessening and reducing the decay of humors and blood, a frequent cause of fevers.

Cupping can be a type of derivation therapy when it’s used to draw out congested humors, blood, and energy to the skin surface. By derivation, we mean the diversion or drawing out of substances or vital energies away from the area of obstruction and blockage in order to restore patency and health to the body and to ameliorate congestion.

When they’re deep within the body, blocked offending matter, morbid humors, black bile, and toxins can inflict serious injury, blocking at the core of the body the functioning of the vital organs. Whenever it can, the body will attempt to marginalize such offending matter by dispatching it to the service in the form of various eruptions, boils, or cysts, regardless if they appear unsightly. Cupping is a modality that stimulates this process and relieves pathogenic blockage to the internal organs, thus preventing or avoiding even worse conditions.

By boosting the movement of vital fluids such as lymph and blood and clearing and breaking up congestions and obstruction of toxins and injurious waste matter, cupping enhances the expelling of wastes and the cleansing abilities of the body. Ancient Greek doctors believe well-timed and appropriate expelling of waste material is an indispensible feature of hygiene. A significant cause of disease and morbidity is the unhealthy build up of anything that should be removed whether it be inhibited menstruation, urinary retention, and constipation.

The Advantages of Cupping Therapy

Cupping therapy has a myriad of advantages or benefits. It enhances flow of lymph and blood in the body and improves and normalizes autonomic nervous system function as well. However, its most common benefits are for the reduction of pain, increased flexibility of muscles and tendons, and instilling a profound sense of relaxation in a person. While clearing congested blood from the muscles, cupping also strengthens the detoxifying flow of lymph. When it’s used on the joints, the therapy bolsters the circulation of blood to the joint and increases into the joint cavity the discharge of synovial fluid.

The impact of cupping on the digestive system is designed to enhance peristalsis and the flow of digestive secretions. Cupping can reinforce digestion and the abdomen, treat constipation, facilitate bowel movement regularity, boost metabolism and the movement of bile, and perk the appetite.

On the circulatory system and the skin, cupping can have a stunning cleansing effect. It facilitates the movement of plasma and blood through the arteries and veins thus enhancing the elimination and filtering of toxins. This cleansing effect may be subtle after just a single session of therapy, but after four or more sessions, the patient may notice an improvement in his or her skin complexion.

In this day and age, we find a growing number of people turning to natural alternative therapies as a way of relieving a myriad of illnesses and ailments in our modern society. We are witnessing a revival in Chinese Cupping Therapy and acupuncture as therapeutic methods and techniques to address health conditions. If we base these practices purely on how long they’ve been used, these healing modalities then obviously work extremely well. Cupping therapy has been documented as a remedy for pain as far back as 2000 years ago. TCM or Traditional Chinese medicine is based on the principle that the blockage of chi or energy flow, through the energy pathways of the body (called meridians) result in toxic accumulation and stagnation that eventually leads illness and dis-ease.

These underlying causes of illnesses and diseases can be addressed through cupping therapy, which applies pressure and suction to literally suck out toxins and stored waste material through the skin and out of the body. Cupping therapy helps restore the smooth flow of chi through the body’s meridians. Today, it is being practiced by modern-day therapists who use cups made out of glass, bamboo, or plastic to treat patients.

Recently, a company in South Africa introduced medical silicone massage cups. Because these cups are pliable, they are easier to manipulate by cupping therapists and practitioners. Just a simple squeeze of the cup after being applied to the skin generates the suction effect required to initiate the treatment. The therapist/practitioner then can perform massage over an area compared to the old traditional way in which the cup stays in place on a specific problem area. One excellent use of these cups is in therapeutic massage cupping targeted to eliminate cellulite.

Cellulite usually entails coverage over a large area on the buttocks or thighs; the cup is manipulated and moved over the entire area in circular, zig-zag, and up and down motions. This natural alternative form of removal or reduction of cellulite is wonderful news to women who have all but given up on ever resolving their “cellulite problems”.

The fibroblast cells are stimulated by the massage resulting in the rise of elastin and collagen production, and the enhancement of lymphatic drainage and blood flow vastly improve the texture and tone of the skin. One other extremely important difference to the old style of cupping is the fact that the silicone cups do not leave the trade mark purple blue bruises on the skin.

Silicone cups are ideal for people conscious of their image who are concerned of having “cup marks” or worse, redness (albeit a healthy redness) appearing on their skin. Throughout the world, cupping therapy is an ever growing popular holistic and natural treatment that can be used for various disorders including fibromyalgia, lung conditions, addictions, migraines, eczema, stretch marks, varicose veins, colon blocks, and many more others.

Being manipulative and pliable, silicone cups, can lead to new and exciting massage techniques in the future as a way to treat stress related modern day ailments.

In the medical field over the last few decades, there was a gradual awakening in which people began to turn to natural and alternative treatments over allopathic medicine and invasive procedures. This was due to the realization that a lot of these natural therapies are just as effective and come with no unpleasant side effects compared to the conventional forms of treatment.

Cupping therapy is one such treatment that has grabbed the attention of people in Western societies. While it is relatively still a novel form of treatment in the United States, cupping therapy has been used for thousands of years and was widely practiced in the Middle East, Egypt, and China and for hundreds of years in some Eastern European societies.

What is Cupping Therapy?

Cupping therapy is a mode of treatment in which the practitioner or therapist uses certain types of cups, heats them and applies them to specific treatment sites on the body, usually muscular regions like the legs, arms, abdomen, and back. The cups are made of silicone, plastic, or glass.

Cupping therapy can be administered in various ways. One approach is called fire cupping or dry cupping. In this method, the practitioner/therapist soaks a cotton ball in alcohol or some other inflammable substances. The cotton ball is then lit with fire and used to heat the cups. Sometimes, the cups are heated by immersing them in hot oil or water.

Once they reach the desired heat, the cups are immediately placed on the skin of the patient. This causes the skin to rise into the cup completely sealing the cup off. The heat generates a suctioning effect that causes the muscles and skin to develop a small puff. The cups are left on the skin in this position for some minutes before they are carefully removed.

In the moving cupping method, the cups are not held in a single position but instead are moved carefully across the site of treatment. First, before the cups are applied, the practitioner/therapist applies cream or oil on the skin. The areas that are treated become red. This is caused by the suction and the subsequent dilation of the blood vessels.

In another cupping method known as the wet cupping method, the practitioner/therapist creates tiny incisions on the skin of the patient before applying the cups on the skin. The suction effect of the cups is designed to extract small amounts of blood from the body. A third method that combines acupuncture treatment along with cupping is probably the most potent of all the different types of cupping methods. It entails the sticking of tiny needles into the skin before the cup is applied on the skin.

As a way to heal the body, cupping therapy works at the deep tissue level. It is used to:

• Enhance performance by stimulating the flow of qi or vital energy all throughout the body
• Strengthen the function of the immune system helping the body fight allergies, colds, and the flu
• Boost the flow of blood and thus encourages healing
• Relieve inflammation
• Relax the body by alleviating knotted and tensed muscles
• Eliminate toxins that have built up in the tissues

Reducing Pain through Cupping Therapy

Cupping therapy is used for treatment of various types of conditions. However, it is most effective when used to relieve pain. Because of this, several athletes use it to help them heal quickly and get fast relief.

It is used for the following ailments:

1. Toothaches – You should know that cupping can significantly relieve severe toothaches.
2. Menstrual Cramping – This is good news for women who have to cope with severe menstrual cramps during their period. Cupping therapy can be a safer and more effective alternative treatment than pain killers.
3. Pain associated with respiratory conditions
4. Pain due to arthritis and rheumatism – People suffering from arthritis-induced pain or rheumatism can use cupping therapy as a long-term remedy.
5. Muscle and joint pain – Cupping lessens the severity of muscle and joint pains; hence, you can find relief from muscle stiffness, neck pain, back aches, and injuries.
6. Tension headaches and migraines

As a type of alternative remedy cupping therapy can do so much for the health of your body. It can help you lose weight, boost your blood circulation, combats stress and anxiety, relieves stiffness and pain and promotes digestion. The process only becomes more effective when it’s combined with acupuncture.

Cupping is the suctioning of a person’s skin through the use of a vacuum seal, rupturing capillaries and pulling blood to the skin surface. This produces the characteristic round and large red and purple spots on the shoulder and back. It’s a very old healing therapy.

Coastal therapists in the ancient Mediterranean would lower patients into water cages to be ravaged by the suctions in the tentacles of octopuses. It wasn’t exactly modern science, but it was nonetheless, effective. At the end of the 19th century, city plumbers often moonlighted as medicine healers, using their plungers to pull unhealthy blood up to the skin surface. Around the 1950s, vacuum salesmen implemented deep suction to treat housewives of their obsession. At the start of the 1990’s angst-filled youths looking for kicks amidst the release of Nirvana CDs used suction hoses in swimming pools to improve skateboarding prowess and feel alive.

Does Cupping Really Have Any Benefits?

Cupping’s one incontrovertible benefit is that it gives a middle finger to the medical establishment that considers any type of ancient healing therapies as quackery or placebo therapy. Celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow and especially Olympians such as Michael Phelps promoted this “pseudoscience” and have made this technique a bona fide healing therapy in the eyes millions of adoring young fans. Through their purplish red cupping marks, they had created an army of future Traditional Chinese Medicine healers.

Actually, members of the US swim team who were treated with cupping therapy weren’t much interested in the metaphysical aspects of the technique. According to their trainer, cupping had nothing to do with “life force” or “chi,”“meridians,” or “yin and yang.” For these athletes, it’s just another means to eliminate knots and adhesions in the fascial tissue supporting and wrapping the musculature of the athletes. Cupping aims to pull stuck fascia out of the muscle through decompression rather than attempting to take apart adhered tissues through compression.

Moreover, the athletes who have received treatment aren’t just lying there. As the cupping is administered, they are moving the problematic tissues using their full range of movement. This helps them regain tissue health and improve their movement patterns. According to the trainer, another huge benefit of cupping is that it works immediately. What may take weeks utilizing traditional types of myofascial release and physical therapy just takes less than 10 minutes with cupping.

Driven athletes would try anything that would give them an edge over their competitor. Of course, they ask for advice from reliable sources before they commit themselves to a certain technique. Sometimes, it works, sometimes, it does not. Cupping therapy, however, has millions of adherents that are willing to witness to its wonderful benefits. There are also clinical studies that attest to the effectiveness of this therapy.

For example, dry cupping has been proven in clinical studies to relieve chronic neck pain, as well as pain, stiffness and improve mobility in patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis. Dry cupping improved both objective and subjective measurements of pain.