Cupping marks, Cupping benefits: Show off your healing!

  Cupping therapy has many health benefits, including:

• Relaxes tense muscles
• Improves circulation
• Relieves pain naturally
• Flushes stagnant tissues with blood and oxygen
• Detoxifies, Cleanses
• Immune-boosting
• De-stressing
• Restores, balances qi

  But cupping can temporarily leave marks, or discolorations on the skin where they are applied. What are the marks? What do they tell us about your body & your health?

  The marks are usually circular, and they show up during the cupping session where cups are applied to the skin. They can last for several days, up to 2 weeks. They are also called gua sa marks (Eastern medicine), or ecchymoses (Western medicine), and they result from blood being drawn through the tissues by the cup suction.

Shoulder cupping reveals ischemic area, removing toxins

   As the suction (from the cups) decompresses, pathways are opened. Blood, lymph and other fluids are flushed through areas of stagnation. Your tissues can be stagnant or ischemic (lacking blood-flow) 
due to:

• Adhesions and restrictions
• Repetitive activities, like work, hobbies, sports, bad posture
• Medical conditions, such as autoimmune disorders and poor circulation 
• Being overworked, or weak

Cupping is an excellent way to restore tissues to healthier states; i.e., restoring "qi".



What do the marks mean?
The marks tell us about the stagnation in an area; the need for blood-flow and detoxification. As you can see in the picture above, the shoulder area is getting slightly pink under the cups. And there are circles where the cups have been. This client might have slouched posture, a previous shoulder or back injury, or repetitive stress from daily activities. (The marks in this picture are not unusually dark, or abnormal, which would indicate a medical condition present).
If you have certain medical conditions, like an autoimmune disorder or poor circultion or toxicity, then your marks may be darker. They also might fade more slowly.

    Unlike bruises, cupping marks fade gradually. Because they are not bruises, they do not change colors in phases. But like any therapy, it's important to tell your therapist if they are suctioned much too tightly! Causing dark marks is not the goal of cupping therapy.

    As you receive continued cupping to an area, your marks will likely be lighter in color. They should also fade sooner. If you wait too long between cupping sessions, and you subject your body to the same stresses, cup marks might not be lighter-colored.

What if no marks appear?
   Then, perhaps your tissues are super-healthy and you have received cupping on a regular basis.
   Or your therapist chose to use gentle suction, which is appropriate in many cases.
   Or the cups were not applied for long.

Cupping can have powerful effects when applied gently, for a short time!

   At Balanced Boulder Massage & Cupping, Nina applies cups with no-more-than "comfortably strong" suction. A health questionaire, before your 1st treatment, helps your therapist guide your treatment so that it is healing for you but never uncomfortable.

   EMBRACE cupping marks, and RECEIVE an ancient therapy that will leave you feeling blissfully healthier!

Massage and Cupping Prices for Balanced Boulder Massage & Cupping

How are services priced at Balanced Boulder Massage & Cupping?

Each person is unique. And bodies change: you might feel on-top-of-the-world one day, but feel down-in-the-dumps the next. Therefore, each treatment is unique. I set my price for your treatment at the time of the treatment.

Here are some general guidelines, based on what we determine you need at the time of treatment.

Balanced Blends:
A 60-minute treatment that includes both Massage and Cupping     $84
A 90-minute treatment with Massage and/or Cupping                        $109

60 minutes of Massage only or Cupping only                                       $79
Focus Cupping, 20 - 30 minutes                                                            $49
examples: Facial Cupping, Lunch-time Quick Fix
Focus Cupping, 30 - 40 minutes                                                            $59
e.g.: Immune Boost,  Upper Body Relief
Focus Cupping 40 - 50 minutes                                                             $69
e.g.: Detox Cupping, Sports Cupping

Facial Cupping reduces wrinkles and lines, clears sinuses and opens airways, and it's very relaxing!

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!

DETOX CUPPING: Cleanse and Detoxify with Cupping

Does your body need a little "Spring Cleaning"? Cupping Therapy is a great way to detoxify!
Cupping uses vacuum pressure on the skin to move stagnant qi, bringing fresh blood and oxygen to underlying tissues. Cupping can be relaxing, stimulating, and detoxifying.
The amount of detoxification you will get from a cupping treatment will vary per individual: it can be mild and gently cleansing, or you can request a session to focus on detoxification. A session for DETOX CUPPING will include abdominal cupping, a series of cups applied to the belly, liver, gall bladder, colon and other digestive organs, and cupping on the back to open airways and detoxify the lungs.

If you get cupping in other areas, it can also be mildly detoxifying. For example, you can get facial cupping to relieve allergies and open sinuses, but the increased blood flow to the face & upper body can be detoxifying.

Cupping for low back pain relief and abdominal therapy

How much you detox when you get cupped depends a lot on the stagnation in your tissues. In the facial cupping example, if you had past injuries to the face or head, such as sinus surgeries, whiplash, or scar tissue in the jaw or TMJ, you may feel a more detoxifying effect than if you had cupping to an area with no past injuries.

Another way to detoxify: ESSENTIAL OILS. There are several plants whose oils have a powerfully detoxifying effect. Most of the citrus are detoxing, including lime, tangerine, and grapefruit. Note: lemongrass is amazing, but it is STRONG, so use just a tiny bit!
Essential oils are often used in conjunction with cupping. Ask your cupping therapist to include them in your treatment.

Massage can also be detoxifying as it improves circulation and boosts lymph flow. Massage, cupping and essential oils can be combined in one session.

Remember, when detoxifying-
"The Solution to Pollution is Dilution"
       -Jason Miller, Cupping Instructor
Drink plenty of pure water! If your body is strongly detoxifying, you may feel flu-like symptoms, and you will probably eliminate in the toilet more often. That's good! Keep chugging water and you should feel great!

HAPPY SPRING CLEANING!