Cupping therapy is just one of the treatments you can book at the South Scarborough Acupuncture clinic. Cupping involves placing special cups directly onto your skin. Suction pulls the skin and tissue up. The cups can then be moved around over oil, as a massage. Alternatively they can be left in place, over acupoints, instead of using acupuncture. Cupping is a great option if you are nervous of needles, as no needles are needed.
What does Cupping Therapy look like?
At South Scarborough Acupuncture we use dry cupping, using glass cups with a rubber suction bulb. The bulb allows us to control the amount of suction to a level that you are comfortable with. Glass cups ensure that they can be hygienically cleaned.
When you have conventional massage, the therapist applies pressure, pushing the skin, tissue etc. into the underlying body framework. Cupping works in the opposite direction, pulling the skin, tissue etc. away. For many people it can be more relaxing than a conventional massage. When used as moving cupping, both techniques, cupping and massage, work to improve circulation of blood and lymph drainage, clearing toxins from the body. However cups can also be applied to acupoints instead of needles and then left in place for 10-15min. Here they work in a similar way to acupuncture in response to a Traditional Chinese Medicine diagnosis.
Cups can leave marks on your body (Michael Phelps sported a batch of them back in the 2016 olympics). These bruises don’t usually hurt like a normal bruise would but do think about your diary. Have you got any upcoming events that you wouldn’t be able to wear your favourite glad rags to because the marks might show? The marks can take anywhere from an hour to several weeks to fade away. It varies from person to person and we can’t predict how long the marks may stay for you.
If you’re interested in trying out cupping for yourself then take a look at our booking page here. You can book a cupping massage or have a Traditional Chinese Medicine diagnosis and have cups on the acupoints instead of acupuncture. Or book in for a free 15 min consultation to discuss what would suit your circumstances the best.