Using a cup and pump a mild suction is created on a specific area to promote healing.
Cupping is an ancient therapy and its roots can be traced back thousands of years in Egyptian, Chinese and Middle Eastern cultures.
There are 2 types of cupping therapy; dry and wet. You can use flame (wet cupping) to create the vacuum or a pump and suction cups (dry cupping). At LUNA we perform dry suction cupping only. This has great therapeutic benefits and helps relax the muscles.
How does it work?
Using a cup and pump a mild suction is created on a specific area and this is left up to 10 minutes. Several cups may be placed on a patient’s body at the same time.
The Vacuum created causes the skin to rise and stretches muscle fibres and connective tissue. This can help release tension and relieve pain.
Drawing up the skin is believed to open up the skin’s pores, which helps to stimulate the flow of blood, balances and realigns the flow of qi, breaks up obstructions, and creates an avenue for toxins to be drawn out of the body.
Benefits of Cupping Therapy
Cupping is used to relieve back and neck pain, stiff muscles, anxiety, fatigue, migraines, rheumatism, and even cellulite. For weight loss and cellulite treatments, oil is first applied to the skin, and then the cups are moved up and down the surrounding area.
Cupping therapy can:
- Loosen muscles
- Encourage blood flow
- Clear congestion from a common cold
- Help with rheumatic diseases, such as arthritis and fibromyalgia
- Help with skin problems such as eczema and acne
- Reduce High blood pressure (hypertension)
- Relieve Migraines
- Help manage anxiety and depression
- Ease bronchial congestion caused by allergies and asthma
What are the marks/discolorations?
In areas of tissue dysfunction this technique may occasionally leave a temporary mark, called “sha.” Sha resembles a bruise but is not painful. Traditional Chinese Medicine regards the appearance of sha as an indication that toxins and stagnation are being pulled to the surface of the body, restoring healthy qi and blood flow below. These are NOT bruises. Bruises are usually the result of trauma from impact which breaks blood vessels and allows blood to seep into the surrounding tissue. In contrast, cupping involves the application of suction. Once understood and the many positive results of cupping are experienced, any initial concerns about cupping discolorations disappear.
How long do the marks last?
If any discolorations surface, these are temporary. Typically ranging in colour from light pink to dark purple, they can last anywhere between a few hours to 10 days before gradually fading away entirely. Again, no pain or tenderness is typically felt following a cupping treatment, whether or not discolorations appear on the skin.
