What is a Cupping Massage?
One of the massages that often raises questions is the cupping massage. During this treatment, large, round, red to purple-blue spots appear on the skin. People often wonder whether cupping massage is dangerous, whether it is healthy, whether it hurts and what it is good for. This is understandable, because it looks impressive. But what exactly is cupping massage and what is it good for? We explain!
Origin of Cupping
Cupping has its origins in ancient Eastern medicine and has been used for centuries in China, Egypt and Greece. Nowadays, cupping is also popular in Europe and America. In the Western world, the focus is often on curing diseases, while in Eastern medicine, prevention is central. Massages, including cupping, have been part of the daily routine to stay healthy for centuries. Cupping is now also gaining popularity in massage practices in our country.
Methods and Applications
There are different methods and applications of cupping. The most common are dry cupping and wet cupping (with blood). We focus here on dry cupping with silicone cups. These cups can be placed on specific problem areas (stationary technique) or moved over the body using massage oil (moving technique).
Cupping is ideal for relieving stress that has built up from a busy daily life, and helps prevent more serious complaints. It can also be effective for shoulder and neck pain, back pain, migraines, tennis elbow or golfer's elbow. Many athletes, including top athletes, use cupping to aid their recovery.
What is Cupping?
Cupping involves placing vacuum cups on the skin, usually made of silicone. This pulls the skin up and blood flows to that area. Cupping stimulates blood circulation in the skin and muscles, which improves the supply of nutrients and the removal of waste products. This helps to release tension, remove connective tissue adhesions and provides total relaxation.
Is cupping dangerous?
Although the red to purple bruises may look alarming, cupping is safe and painless. The bruises will disappear on their own after a few days. The vacuum created by the cups should not hurt; in fact, it often feels less uncomfortable than the pressure of hands during a traditional massage. The cups create negative pressure, which helps to relieve pain more quickly by pulling tension out of the body.
The benefits of Cupping:
Cupping offers many benefits such as:
- Relieves muscle pain quickly
- Improves blood circulation
- Activates the lymphatic system
- Penetrates deeper than other massages
- Stimulates metabolism
- Provides relaxation
- Increases resistance
- Removes waste products from the body
Make an appointment with our physiotherapy
If you would like to learn more about how physiotherapy can help you through cupping massage, we invite you to Contact to contact us.
Contact us today to schedule an appointment or learn more. Take back control of your health with the right support and care.
