Cupping

What is Cupping Therapy?

Cupping therapy is an ancient treatment used for various health conditions. The two main types are:

Dry Cupping: This method pulls the blood into the superficial tissues without any bleeding.

Wet Cupping: This involves making small cuts on the skin to draw out blood.

At the Physiotherapy Room Holmfirth, we only use **dry cupping** and a technique called **dynamic cupping**.  In dynamic cupping, the cup is moved around on the skin using oil to act like a deep massage, covering a larger area.

How Does Cupping Work?

While cupping has been around for centuries, we still don’t fully understand how it works.  The main idea is that the suction created inside the cup (made of glass or plastic) pulls the skin and blood vessels away from muscles and tissues towards the surface.  This helps blood flow better, bringing more nutrients and oxygen to areas that might not be getting enough.  As a result, it may help the body heal faster or break movement restricting adhesions that have formed.

The marks left on the skin, called petechiae, happen when tiny blood vessels break, allowing blood to rise to the surface. These marks can last up to ten days.  Dynamic cupping minimises the marks by keeping the cups moving continually

Benefits of Cupping

Cupping therapy is believed to:

  • Release tight muscles
  • Remove toxins and impurities
  • Alleviate stiffness from chronic pain
  • Speed up recovery of overworked muscles
  • Break/stretch adhesions
  • Stretch soft tissues

It’s thought to help increase the body’s natural anti-inflammatory responses, reducing inflammation.  Yet can also be pro-inflammatory in that the small damage caused by the cupping can upregulate the body’s healing response.

Cupping is a natural, drug-free, and non-invasive way for the body to heal itself. According to traditional Chinese medicine, cupping can also improve the flow of energy, known as “qi,” to restore balance in the body.

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