Have You Tried Cupping?

What’s Cupping All About?

You have probably seen the after effects of a cupping session. Typically you’ll see people with big round bruise-like looking marks on them. This is probably enough to scare a few people off. But don’t be put off by appearances. Cupping is an extremely effective treatment and I recommend it to all of my clients who have had long term issues of tightness and pain.

How Does Cupping Work?

The suction and negative pressure provided by cupping can loose muscles, encourage blood flow, and sedate the nervous system. It also works on the fascia that covers the muscles over the entire body. When we apply a sliding technique with the cups, it’s similar to ironing out the creases of a shirt, except we are smoothing out the fascia, which gets gathered and twisted. This smoothing ability of cupping for many people creates instantaneous results.

Great Results

Many of my clients have been struggling with pain between their shoulder blades or around their neck or back, for months and in some case years. They often reported dramatic improvements just after one or two sessions of cupping therapy.  These often results in the complete removal of pain and immobility. The effects are long lasting too, especially when combined with some exercises and some lifestyle changes to support your wellbeing.

Side Effects

Cupping has been used effectively to treat and relieve back and neck pain, stiff muscles, anxiety, fatigue, migraines, rheumatism, and even cellulite. Like any treatment there are some side effects. Most of the time these are very mild but can include;
Some mild discomfort, swelling, light and temporary burning sensations , dizziness, lightheadedness, sweating, temporary skin pigmentation, and possible nausea. Cupping also leaves round purple marks or circular bruises on the skin; these marks may begin to fade after several days but can remain for two to three weeks. My clinical experience is that the side effects are generally very mild in comparison to the tremendous relief that cupping provides.

Give It A Try

If you have had some lingering issues, chronic pain or tightness in your body that is effecting your quality of life, then come and see if cupping is right for you. We can do a little cupping in combination with your massage and you can see if it’s something that might be a way forward for your overall wellbeing. A light cupping session at Health and Massage may involve 80% of your time with remedial massage and 20% using cupping. This way you get to sample the benefits and weigh up the possible side effects.

As always we strive to give our clients the very best advice and solutions, but ultimately we respect that you know your body better than anyone, so we will work with you to achieve the best possible outcomes for you wellbeing.