Cupping Therapy
What is Cupping Therapy and How Can it Improve Your Health?
For centuries, this form of alternative medicine has been practiced to alleviate a range of health concerns. It works by reducing inflammation using the power of suction.
While employed by athletes to help reduce muscle tension and tightness, it can help non-athletes with pain, stiffness, and breathing problems. For certain ailments like fibromyalgia, it is even considered more helpful than conventional therapies.
Cupping is said to have originated in China or the middle east and usually involves creating a vacuum within glass cups placed on certain acupuncture points on the skin.
The resulting suction, often filled with heated air, pulls the skin part of the way into the cup. Once the cup is removed after a point of time, you’ll notice a bright red, circular welt. In wet cupping, the skin is pricked with a needle before the cup is placed.
It is important to note that the procedure is generally safe when performed by trained professionals, but it can cause bruises, soreness.
Cupping Therapy for Athletes
Cupping is especially popular among athletes, who choose to undergo it before sports activity. It is done with the goal of rectifying a specific ache or pain within their body to help them perform their best. This form of therapy also helps athletes who have undergone surgery and is known to reduce healing time post-op.
What Does it Look Like?
They may look like glass or plastic snow globe-like balls that range in size from three-quarters of an inch to four inches in diameter. These cups are then placed on the skin and It is considered a norm to leave them there for 5-15 mins. Depending on the ailment your therapist is treating, the cups can be slid back and forth between locations to help induce a more therapeutic response.
How Do I Get Started With Cupping?
Patients can come in as often as two to three times a month for cupping, but it’s usually used in conjunction with our massage treatments as opposed to a stand alone session.