Chinese Cupping Therapy
Cupping therapy is an ancient medical system thought to have originated in China. It has been used for many thousands of years to aid the treatment of many acute and chronic conditions.
Cupping therapy can be used to help chronic fatigue, headaches, migraines, dizziness, stiff shoulders, muscular aches and pains, rheumatism, high blood pressure, asthma, common cold, gastrointestinal complaints, poor appetite, menstrual problems, emotional problems, lower back pain, kidney disorders, urinary tract problems, infertility, lumbago,sciatica and more ...
The therapy incorporates massage and then the application of glass cups to areas of congestion, muscular tension &/or along Chinese meridian channels.
The application of the cups is generally a comfortable experience You will feel a drawing, warm, stretching pressure on the area of skin where the cup is applied. According to the method used the cup is either moved on the surface of the skin or is left in one spot.
Treatment usually consists of a course of between 5 and 10 visits. The first consultation is for 45 minutes where a full medical history is taken, subsequent treatments will be for 30 minutes.
Cupping Marks
Cupping therapy always leaves some marks behind. Different conditions are treated with differing levels of suction pressure; in general light cupping remains on the skin for about a week, whereas strong cupping can remain for up to 20 days.
Benefits of Cupping therapy
- Blood and lymph circulatory systems are stimulated to work more efficiently, allowing improved transport of waste and toxins from the tissues of the body.
- Pain in constricted muscular tissue can be eased.
- Cupping stimulates the sensory nerve endings in the skin and is often directed to the spinal nerves along the back. This is thought to have a direct influence on the organs within the body via the nervous system.
- A clinical trial has shown lowered erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) after cupping therapy. Raised ESR indicates inflammation in the body and is used to diagnose inflammatory diseases such as rheumatism. Cupping is therefore often used to help bring down this rate and hence generalised inflammatory responses in the body.
- According to Traditional Chinese Medicine theory cupping helps to relieve stagnation of Qi in the meridian channels, help expel external pathogens from the body and regulate the flow of Qi and Blood.
Recommendations pre and post treatment
- Eat a light meal at least two hours before treatment time. Having a treatment on an empty or full stomach is not advised.
- Take plenty of water before and after treatment this helps the body eliminate toxins more effectively.
- It is best if you are able to rest for at least half an hour after the treatment.
Contraindications to treatment
This therapy is not suitable for those clients who have:
- suspected or known haemorrhage.
- sunburn or any other burn
- open wounds
- recent trauma or injury
- new scar tissue
- Last three months of pregnancy
