About Cupping Therapy - Natural Cares

Cupping therapy is an ancient form of alternative medicine in which an acupuncturist puts special cups on your skin for a few minutes to create suction. People get it for many purposes, including to help with pain, inflammation, blood flow, relaxation and well-being, and as a type of deep-tissue massage.

Cupping therapy might be trendy now, but it’s not new. It dates back to ancient Egyptian, Asian, and Middle Eastern cultures. One of the oldest medical textbooks in the world, the Ebers Papyrus, describes how the ancient Egyptians used cupping therapy in 1,550 B.C.

The cups may be made of glass, bamboo, or plastic. There are different methods of cupping, including: dry, fire, or prick to cause bleeding.

During fire type of cupping, your therapist will put a flammable substance such as alcohol, herbs, or paper in a cup and set it on fire. As the fire goes out, he puts the cup upside down on your skin. As the air inside the cup cools, it creates a vacuum. This causes your skin to rise and redden as your blood vessels expand. The cup is generally left in place for up to 3 minutes.

A more modern version of cupping uses a rubber pump instead of fire to create the vacuum inside the cup. Dry cupping creates a mild suction by leaving a cup in place for about 3 minutes.

The therapist uses a small lancet to make light, tiny cuts on your skin then suction to draw out a small quantity of blood. This therapy is effective to treat lower back pain, knee pain, or shoulder pain by increasing the blood circulation and remove blood stasis.