Cupping Therapy: Everything You Need to Know About This Alternative Medicine

Are you suffering from severe back pain? Or are you experiencing knee problems when you wake up in the morning? Don't worry!

Cupping therapy ensures zero medicine intake and no need for surgery. This age-old alternative therapy can provide comfort for various body pains. In addition, it can accelerate your healing process by promoting blood circulation, removing toxins from the body and increasing immunity.

Let us explore everything related to this traditional Chinese and Middle Eastern therapy.

Types of Cups Used in Cupping Therapy

There have been various types of cups in practice for this therapy for a long time. Each type of cup is used for various purposes. These are:

Horn/Suction Cups are to promote blood circulation.
Plastic/ Hijama Cups are highly beneficial for people with arthritis, lower back pain and suffering from severe headaches.
Glass/Fire Glass Cups help in muscular pain, joint pain, and respiratory disorders.
Silicone/Facial Cups aid in skin toning and lessens the stretch marks, spider veins, scar and more.

Types of Cupping Massage

Though there are various cupping therapies, mainly two approaches are practiced to ease pain and heal from diseases. These are Dry and Wet cupping therapies.

1. Dry Cupping Therapy

Dry Cupping Therapy

In this procedure, the therapist will heat the inside of a cup with an alcohol-based cotton ball. The cotton ball is flamed and forces the oxygen to go out and create a vacuum inside the cup. Then he puts the cup on your skin, pulling your skin up in the cup. Furthermore, some specialists use a suction device to remove all air from the cup.

2. Wet Cupping Therapy

Wet Cupping Therapy

In wet therapy, your cupping professional will use a needle and make some wounds on your skin with a needle before and after the procedure is done. This is how the body toxins go away from the skin, and you become disease-free.

Benefits of Cupping

Your cupping therapist will apply the therapeutic cups to different types of body parts. They are the Back, chest, abdomen, buttock, and legs. It may produce various benefits for patients with back pain, neck pain, knee pain, headaches, skin problems, anxiety, depression, migraine, and more. Here are its surprising benefits:

1. Improvement of Blood Circulation

Cupping increases the blood flow in the area of your body where it is placed. The increased blood circulation relaxes your tense muscles and expedites the healing process. It also promotes cell repairs and aids the body in developing connective tissues and new blood vessels in the tissue to pump more blood throughout the body.

2. Helpful for Tissues Relieving Toxins

If you want to feel rejuvenated and look glowing, try cupping therapy. It will help you flush out all your body toxins and make you feel energetic. In addition, cupping lets the body waste out from the lymphatic system and keeps you immune from diseases.

3. Reduces Stretch Marks and Scars

Cupping helps to reduce the scars on your face and other body parts by restoring the lymphatic fluid flow and removing the excess body fluid and toxic substances responsible for scars. This traditional treatment can bring effective results if you have stretch marks from pregnancy.

4. Beneficial in Removing Varicose & Spider Veins

Treat those bluish varicose veins with cupping as it helps increase the fresh blood flow to the affected area, usually on the feet and legs. If you continue a few sessions, you will be amazed to see the veins get lighter and disappear.

5. Aids in Digestion

Cupping can clear out your constipation problem and aid in digestion. The increased blood flow in the digestive tracts can benefit from colon blockages and adequately clear out the body's wastes.

6. Effectively Works on Anxiety

People suffering from anxiety and depression will find this therapy miraculous. With the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system, cupping provides deep relaxation to the entire body. As a result, you will feel less agitated and more aware of your surroundings. This will help you feel relaxed throughout the day and have better control over anxiousness.

After Cupping Effects

After Cupping Effects

Though cupping has no health hazards, you may experience a few conditions such as:

Rounded bruise and mark
Inflammation from the heated cups
Discolouration
Itching, scarring, and skin irritation
Low to mid-level fatigue
Headache & dizziness
Muscle tension
Nausea

If you suffer from any of these above symptoms, consult with your therapist and call off the session for a few days.

Who Should Avoid Cupping?

Any pregnant woman should not undergo cupping therapy. Though there are no instances that this therapy harms a mom-to-be, doctors are still unsure of its effect on pregnant mothers. In addition, you should say 'no' to cupping if you have seizures or epilepsy, psoriasis, Eczema, hemophilia or a history of strokes.

After Care of Cupping

This conventional treatment is safe, relaxing and effective in various illnesses. Cupping creates a subtle suction that helps blood and lymphatic flow to the particular area. However, you need to be cautious and religiously follow post-care cupping.

Here are some of the Do's and Don'ts after you have gone through this therapy:

Drink plenty of water to keep yourself hydrated and flush your cellular wastages from your lymphatic system.
Ensure that you stay warm.
If you witness typical flu-like symptoms after cupping, arrange your other daily activities so that you get ample rest.
Refrain yourself from alcohol, sweet drinks, caffeine, processed food and meat.
Do not take a hot shower, sauna, or hot bath after 6 hours of post-cupping.
Keep yourself safe from getting cold.

If you maintain the proper cupping aftercare, this therapy will have maximum benefits. Post cupping therapy, you may have pink, red or purple coloured circular marks. The best things to make these inflamed marks go away are keeping yourself hydrated and taking plenty of rest. In general, these marks take 7 days to go away. If your marks are persisting, consult with your cupping therapists and follow the cupping after guidelines.