Uses for Cupping
There might not be one single uniting piece of knowledge amongst all the worlds healing styles. One thing though that can be found round the world and has many uses it cupping. In modern holistic medicine it may be used by acupuncturists, massage therapist, those specializing in only cupping. To an acupuncturist cups have varied uses. They’re often used to treat pain in muscles and surrounding soft-tissues. Another use is to ‘suck out’ evil wind, this usually would be in an auto-immunity where there is itching and/or inflammation. Yet, evil wind may be the beginnings of a flu or cold and cupping can prevent it from setting in. What is this evil wind I speak of?
It can most easily be described as something that comes from the outside. With seasonal allergies often blamed are pollen, dust, or dander (food allergies I’ll mention shortly) The pollen causing allergies and the virus were thought to blow in on the wind, in the manner the wind carries the seeds of certain trees and dandelions. Wind can be thought of as analogous to air. Wind is one of the important factors in Chinese medicine diagnosis and healing. There can be internal wind or external wind. Food creates a more complex picture but can also create internal wind, cold, fire, or dampness. Cupping can help when the wind is internal just as it can help when it’s blown in from the outside. The way it works for pain is different but very effective.
Myofascial release is yet another style of massage that works with the fascial layer. As an acupuncturist my specialty isn’t in the science of myofascial release or western scientific massage therapy, but with cupping I can access the myofascial layer.
I picture it like your Peter Pan suit. If you’ve seen the old version with Mary Martin, you might remember the shadow that he was retrieving from Wendy’s bedroom in the beginning. It looked like suit of nylon. The myofascial system is like that wrapping around the inner body structures and becoming its own entity. When fascia gets bound up in certain places it can cause moderate to severe pain. It’s understandable that you might think something is seriously wrong.
This could lead to poor sleep, reduced activity and a cycle of being stuck. There may be accompanying feelings of frustration and even depression. Being stuck isn’t just in the imagination and it can affect the body. Or, it could be that the mind is fine but the body has endured life. Sport injuries and accidents happen, pregnancy and childbirth can leave us with battle scars. Everyday pattens of posture holding from emotional wounds can cause chest to cave and shoulders to round, unnaturally stretching the myofascial layer.
Good times to try cupping is if you’ve had pain and tightness in the body from everyday stresses, posture, or injuries and scarring. If you have a skin condition such as eczema or psoriasis. When you feel you are coming down a cold or flu. If you or your child is suffering from asthma (also sometimes due to parthenogenic wind according to TCM). If cupping sounds right for you but you’ve never had it before there may be some questions you have about the process and the safety.
Often done on the muscles than run along the spine for internal conditions, for pain the cups will be placed where they are needed and there is enough soft tissue structure to support. We use fire cupping here at Sitting Swan, like they do in China. This consists of a flaming piece of cotton or folded up paper towel held with a hemostat, and glass cupping ‘cup.’ The flame creates negative pressure when the flame is removed from the cup where it is placed and immediately drawn back out, then placed down gently on the patient. Suction can be light to intense, if it’s too much releasing some pressure or the cup entirely is quickly and easily done. It’s often described as feeling good and therapeutic.
Cupping is rarely uncomfortable. The one side effect that may be undesirable to some are the dark purple, red, or brown marks that are left from the cups. In the field we often say that the darkness of the cups indicated how badly it was needed in that area. If you don’t want the cup marks or would like to rock a backless dress at formal event, cupping might not be for you. Olympic swimmers have made freat strokes (pun intended) to normalize cupping marks with theirs visible on the edges of their suit straps, on TV. It’s not a bruise, it doesn’t feel painful, it’s like kiss or hickey from and octopus - that is petechiae.
Cupping is great to try first if you’ve never had acupuncture or equally good if you’ve tried everything for your pain and are not having success. We have seen it work both ways. Please call us to explore if cupping therapy might be appropriate for you!