Cupping: what it is and how to do it

Cupping is a traditional Chinese medicine technique .

Together with shiatsu massage, acupuncture , and moxa (through cigars or mugwort cones), it balances the perverse energies that, penetrating inside the body, give life to the disease and the symptom.

Cupping is used in both aesthetic and medical , sports and rehabilitation fields : cupping is useful in case of cellulite , to firm up and for various aesthetic treatments.

It is also widely and effectively used in case of various traumas  and pains.

Cupping is performed by applying glass cups to the skin , inside which a vacuum is created .

Applied on the soft parts, they generate a sucking and detachment effect that acts like a connective tissue massage localized on painful points or acupuncture points.

The vacuum inside the cups is created by a heat source that consumes oxygen , or by managing the air through valves already inserted on the cups.

The original cupping, that is, the one that uses heat to subtract oxygen, gives better results because it associates the effect created by the vacuum, including that of heat .

In particular cases, however, such as capillary hypersensitivity, it is necessary to avoid heat and use the cups that create the vacuum through the valves.

Read also Cupping: practice and benefits >>

Cupping for back pain

Well-performed cupping results in immediate and lasting benefits in cases of back pain .

According to traditional Chinese medicine, back pain is due to the following causes :

> invasion of cold and humid energy , especially frequent in men over the age of 50 . This back pain is characterized by sciatica , tingling in the lower limbs, contracted and rigid muscles, limitation of movements and also of the static posture, sitting or standing;

> stasis of Xue , ie of the blood, which causes lower back pain, especially in the morning or after having been lying down for long hours. The pain, fixed and stinging, can radiate from the coccyx to the neck, with consequent headaches and, in women, disorders related to the cycle;

> deficiency of kidney Qi , that is the vital energy of the kidney, understood as an energy organ that contains the vitality of the body. This back pain is mainly concentrated in the lower back , with joint pain.

Cupping acts on all 3 of these manifestations of back pain and their causes:

> through the heat it allows to disperse the cold energy and dry the humid one ;

> through the detachment, resulting from the vacuum that is created in the cups, it moves the blood and circulation ;

> finally , it tones the vital energy by acting on the acupoints , especially in the lumbar area.

Cupping must always be performed by properly trained personnel , and must never be improvised. Knowing how to dose the time and quantity of the vacuum created is in fact a fundamental requirement for the success of the treatment.