A cup o’ muscle therapy

The image may look unusual — four to eight mounds of skin suctioned into glass cups along someone’s back. This ancient therapy, known as cupping, dates back more than 5,000 years. Introduced by the Egyptians and the Macedonians, cupping is still practiced worldwide, mainly in Asia, and the therapy is also available across the United States.

“It is thought that cupping can have different benefits,” says Talia Dahms, L.Ac., an acupuncturist with Sharp Coronado’s Sewall Healthy Living Center. “This includes providing pain relief, reducing inflammation, and promoting muscle relaxation and blood circulation.

How does it work?

“At the Sewall Healthy Living Center, we use a dry cupping technique,” says Talia. “You can think of it like a ‘reverse’ deep tissue massage.”

While deep tissue massage, where therapists use their forearms and elbows to apply direct pressure over large areas of the body, cupping is localized and can work faster on knots.

In dry cupping, the inside of the cup is heated, then inverted and placed directly on the skin. A negative pressure in the cup creates a suction, causing the skin to get “sucked” into the cup.

The practitioner may also glide the cup across slightly oiled skin. This is known as massage cupping.

“The vacuum-like pressure sensations from cupping stimulate large nerve fibers,” says Talia. “This stimulation may provide pain relief by blocking pain signals in the body.”

Is cupping right for you?

A cupping therapy session is usually 5 to 15 minutes. Your therapist may ask you to wear loose clothing to your session so that you can easily expose the area to be treated, such as your neck, back, shoulders or legs.

It is not known to be painful, but it may cause mild stinging during application. After a session, a client may notice red or purple circular marks on their skin. “This is common,” says Talia. “They may look like bruises, but they are actually indicators of improved blood flow. The marks typically fade in a week or so.”

It’s essential to hydrate well after a cupping session to flush the released toxins. And you may feel slight fatigue as your body recovers.

Although cupping may be helpful in treating musculoskeletal pain caused by arthritis or sports injuries, it is not advised for people taking blood-thinning medications or who have certain conditions, including:

• Bleeding disorders

• Skin infections or wounds

• Pregnancy

“Cupping, for the most part, is a safe form of alternative medicine to relieve muscle pain,” says Talia. “You should always speak with your doctor or a licensed acupuncturist, massage therapist or physical therapist to see if cupping therapy may help you.”

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