Cupping is an ancient practice that involves placing glass, bamboo, or plastic cups on the skin and creating suction to lift the skin and underlying tissues. It is thought to improve circulation, relax muscles, and remove toxins. There are two main methods - fixed cupping leaves the cups in place for up to 30 minutes, while moving cupping involves massaging oils on the skin and dragging the cups around to treat tension in the back, legs, and arms. Cupping has a long history in China and the Middle East and was advocated by ancient Greek physicians, though modern techniques now use plastic cups.

1. What isCupping?
So muchhas beenwrittenaboutthe practice of Cuppingrecently,due tothe relativelycommon
sightat thisyears’Olympics,of athletessportingthe tell-tale cuppingmarksonvariousbodyparts.
Michael Phelps,inparticular,seemsto have become the posterboyforthisancientpractice,buthe
isby no meansalone inhispreference forthistechniquewhichisquite unique initsabilitytoease
musculartension,tostretchthe fasciae andto relieve painandsoreness.Whatislesswell knownis
justhowrelaxingandpleasantanexperience cuppingis.Ihave rarelyhada clientreceivethis
treatmentandnot passcommenton how relaxedandchilledouttheyfeel bothduringandafter.
Cuppingwasdevelopedthousandsof yearsagoand thoughthe techniqueshave modernized (with
the use of plasticratherthan glasscups,in some cases),the original philosophyremainsthe same.
There isa longhistoryof cuppinginChinaand the Middle East(where itisreferredtoas Hajama).
One of the earliestknownrecordsof itisinthe Bo Shu manuscriptwhichwasdiscoveredinan
ancienttombin1973 but was writtenduringthe Handynasty(206 B.C.-202A.D.). (Chirali,2007)
The practice wasalsohighlyadvocatedbythe GreekphysiciansGalenandHippocrates,the “Father
of ModernMedicine”.
So,what exactlyiscupping?One waytothinkabout isthat itis the inverse of massage.Ratherthan
applyingpressure tomuscles,the suctionusespressuretopull skin,tissueandmusclesupward.Itis
oftenusedasan adjunctto acupuncture but itcan alsobe usedalone.
Cuppinginvolvesplacingglass,bambooorplasticjarson the skinandcreatinga vacuumby
suctioningoutthe air.Thiscausesthe underlyingtissue tobe raised,orsucked,partwayintothe
cup. The purpose of cuppingisto improve circulation,relax the musclesanddraw out toxins,
includinglacticacidbuild-up.
There are a numberof methodsof cupping,butthose generallyusedare fixedormovingcupping.
Withfixedcupping,the cupsare placed onthe areaof the bodybeingtreatedandare thensimply
leftthere forthe requiredlengthof time (usuallynomore than30 minutes). Thistype of cuppingcan
be tailoredtosuitpeople of all ages,includingchildren,asthe cupscan be appliedwithlight,
mediumorstrongsuction.
Withmovingcupping,oil isfirstappliedtothe treatedareabefore placingthe cupsonthe skin.The
cups are thenmovedor pulledaround the area,mostoftenthe back,althoughitcan also be usedto
treat painandmusculartensionof the legsandarms. Due to the vigorousnature of thisstyle of
cupping,itisnot recommendedforchildrenoranyone whoisparticularlyfrail orweak,anda typical
firstsessionof thistype of cuppingwouldlastnolongerthan5 minutesbuildinguptoabout 20
minutesoveraperiodof time.
It shouldbe notedthatcuppingshould notbe usedon patientswhobleedeasilyorhave skinulcers,
or oedemaandwhile cupsmaybe applieddirectlyoverfine capillaries (toremove stagnantblood),
underno circumstancesshouldtheybe applieddirectlyovervaricoseveins. Pregnantwomenshould
be cuppedwithextreme cautionandneverontheirabdomenorlowerback.
I hope thisarticle will answersome of the questionsbeingaskedaboutthe validityand background
of thissimple butwonderfullyeffective technique.

2. Chirali,IlkayZihni;Traditional Chinese Medicine CuppingTherapy;Churchill Livingstone,Second
Edition,2007.