Cupping

We are able to easily change the tightness of the cups to accommodate to each individual’s pressure tolerance. It’s often compared to the sensation to a deep tissue massage and most people love the sensation.

There may be discomfort initially because it’s a foreign sensation! Within a few minutes however the cups have a subduing effect on the nervous system and most people find it incredibly relaxing.

After a cupping treatment, clients typically report feelings of relief, muscular release, lightness, pleasant tingling, and freedom from pain and an increase in flexibility and muscular control. Contracted, tense and painful muscle tissue will soften quickly with just a few minutes of cupping.

The marks left by the cups are not actually bruises. A bruise is caused by impact trauma which leads to broken capillaries and a rush of blood/fluids to the damaged location. Cupping draws stagnant blood, toxins and other fluids out of the muscle layer and into the healthy circulation of the skin.

The darker the mark, the more local congestion or blood stagnation there is in that area. This can be caused by tight, constricted muscles or an old injury that has trapped old, deoxygenated blood cells (hence the purplish color). Cupping helps to increase blood circulation to flush out the old blood and circulate new fresh blood. This is not a true bruise nor does it damage the skin.

The skin is the body’s largest organ and contains about 20% of your blood volume at any given time, therefore, the skin has an efficient network of capillaries that make it a fantastic vehicle to transport all the metabolic waste that cupping pulls up into it. The capillary system carries toxins to the liver and kidneys, where they can be metabolized and excreted. This action creates space in the tissues for oxygen and nutrients needed for healing. This is why people often say that it helps “detox” the body.

The marks usually fade within a few days to a week. The first few visits tend to linger longer but as we continue cupping, they begin to fade faster as your circulation improves with consecutive sessions. The areas that take longer to fade mean that there was poor circulation in that area whether due to injury, tight muscles, or knots.

In general, we recommend doing it weekly when starting out. This helps to jumpstart your healing and allow us to make forward progress. We wait until the marks have almost completely faded to not overload the body and allow it proper time to heal.

It should be used cautiously with those on blood thinners or who have blood clotting disorders. It should be avoided on the low back or abdomen of pregnant women.

Obviously this is a personal choice. Some people want to look cute and flawless if they’re going on a beach vacation while others wear their marks with pride. In this day and age, most people recognize the perfect circles left behind by our beloved cups. If they don’t then it’s a perfect opportunity for you to share the good word about this amazing, pain relieving treatment!

Sometimes you may feel a slight discomfort after the cups. It feels similar to a bruise or sunburn and it’s because your body isn’t used to being stretched like that. It goes away within 24-48 hours and gets better (and eventually goes away) the more often you do the cups.

Chinese wisdom recommends to keep your neck and back covered post-cups as well as avoiding being submerged in water for 2 hours after (hot tubs, pools, beach, etc).

You can take arnica to help speed up the bruising, both topically or orally. You can also apply CBD to the area of discomfort.