How Cupping Works: Why it has SO many health benefits

by Nina Dropcho

Cupping therapy, or just “cupping”, is an ancient medicinal technique used to treat many different health conditions, and to promote health, in general. Cupping decompresses tissues and opens channels.

Qi.

In Far Eastern cultures, medical practitioners use cupping to move stagnant qi. Qi is a holistic term for the body’s energies.  All energies of the body are interrelated and inseparable. If one of the body’s systems is compromised, then others will also be compromised. For example, reduced blood flow can produce tightness in muscles, or inhibit mental skills like alertness and memory.

Cupping, therefore, promotes balanced qi, affecting all of the body’s systems and functions.

Western qi.

To “break it down” in Western medicine terms…
Some of the main benefits of cupping include:

·        Improves circulation, delivering fresh oxygen and blood to the tissues.

·        Opens lymph vessels, boosting the flow of lymph and enhancing immune function

·        Raises metabolism, optimizes digestion, detoxifies

·        Promotes respiratory healing, invigorating the lungs

·        Stimulates nerve transmission by taking pressure off nerves

·        Replenishes connective tissue, easing restrictions and adhesions

Ultimately, cupping makes you feel ENERGIZED, but also relaxed, as your body finds balance and optimal conditioning!

Cupping application.

To decompress an area, cups are applied to the skin with suction. The suction draws a small amount of tissues up into the cup. The therapist will either leave the cups sitting on an area for a few minutes, or they will move them around. Each treatment is different, based on the client’s needs.

Leaving cups to sit on an area is called static, or Stationary Cupping, or Vacuum Therapy. Moving the cups around is called Dynamic Cupping. It is also called Gliding, Running, or Massage Cupping. The stationary style is often intense, applied for a specific effect, while the moving style is more diffuse and produces more generalized effects.

Stationary Cupping: cups on a runner's sore leg, relief for calf, heel, IT Band

At Balanced Boulder Massage & Cupping, I call the gliding style “Massage Cupping”. It can be added to a massage or done as its own treatment. As its name implies, gliding the cups around can be very relaxing, or even sedating. The cups are moved in flowing, massage-like strokes.

Massage Cupping can have milder effects, so it might be used when a client is too sensitive for stationary cupping. If you have recently had an illness or a traumatic event, or you have finished an intense course of detoxification, then massage cupping might be more appropriate than stationary cupping.

Focus Cupping, V’Acupuncture.

Cups can also be placed or moved to focus on specific pathways, much like the way that

> Acupuncture stimulates meridians,

> Thai medicine empowers sen lines, or

> Reflexology arouses points along energy channels.

At Balanced Boulder Massage & Cupping, this style of cupping is called Focus Cupping, or “V’Acupuncture”. Some of these treatments include:

*Detox Cupping, *Cupping for Athletes: Cyclists, Runners, *Weight Loss & Toning Cupping, *Facial cup-lift and *Cupping for Musicians (see picture, below).

Cupping therapy to relieve a musician's upper back, shoulder soreness

A Focus/V’Acupuncture treatment is not like a massage. It may take as little as 20 minutes, or up to 60 minutes. Due to the focused intensity, it is not recommended that you receive multiple V’Acupuncture treatments in one session.

For a longer session, schedule yourself a “Balanced Blend” treatment with a combination of 1) V’Acupuncture and Massage Cupping OR 2) V’Acupuncture and regular Massage.

Call 970-948-0179

  to schedule your cupping treatment!