The Mysterious Oriental Cupping
Cupping Therapy is becoming increasingly prevalent not only in China, but also in Europe, North America and other parts of the world. It is an integral part of Traditional Chinese Medicine that has been built on a solid foundation of more than 2,500 years of Chinese medical sciences knowledge that is based on the basic principle of meridians and acupuncture points theories which are totally different from the common western medical theories. It can be used as a stand-alone therapy for healthcare purpose or for treatment of diseases. If want to produce a synergistic treatment effect, it is often used as an adjunct therapy in combination with other modalities such as tuina (hand manipulating technique), guasha (skin scrapping), acupuncture (needling), moxibustion (herbal heat), herbal decoction (cooked herbal soup) and etc.
Treatment efficacy depends largely on the skills of the practitioner. Cupping is mainly used to clear away stagnation that has stuck-up on the superficial and subcutaneous tissue area of the body which are caused by the penetration of external pathogenic factors and metabolic wastes from our body that cannot easily dispel out through the process of urination, defecation or perspiration. These elements will then obstruct the normal flow of oxygen and blood that will cause muscle or tendon tightness, incidentally becoming discomfort or even cause body ache. If not properly managed, these pathogens will later penetrate deeply into the body, then transform further into internal damp-heat or other toxic element that will lead into other diseases to arise. Cupping is totally safe under proper management by qualified personnel and is used as one of the tools to perform the function of pulling out toxins by stimulating the acupoints and meridians of the affected area that could enhance oxygen and blood flow as a result of encouraging the body's inherent ability to rejuvenate and regulate our body systems back to its harmonizing state. That is why it is considered as a popular detoxification method.
While performing the gliding or stroking technique in cupping, tiny grain-like rashes will surface out only on the skin area that are affected by pathogens coupled with bearable soreness that can be felt by the patient. If there is no problem, discomfort will not be felt unless the patient is too sensitive, nor will red mark exists even with strong deep pressure. It’s just like having a scratching with comfort. Same with using the stationary method wherein the cups are placed usually for 5-10 minutes, 15 minutes or over might have the chance of getting blister. If there is stagnation, temporary red spot marks might exist during cupping that usually will last for an average of 3-4 days for lighter spots, and 9 days to 2 weeks for darker spots after removing the cups, or even longer time for those whose energy level is very low. For those who have neither stagnation nor problem, skin will just get pinkish and gone after a while without leaving any discoloration on skin. These all depend on body condition and its response which differs individually. There are times that doing bloodletting is aided with a sterilized stainless apparatus such as thicker needle for pricking in order to draw out a considerable quantity of liquid toxic or blood through cupping for releasing excessive heat such as those with skin problem that are caused by heat.
Today, there are several kinds of cups being used that are made up of different raw materials. All of these could achieve therapeutic result in different degree with comparatively advantage. The most commonly used is the transparent glass cups that need fire to eliminate the air within in order to produce suction over a large designated muscular area. Manipulating glass cups requires a higher level of skills specially handling the fire to avoid skin burnt. Clinically, glass cups are often used by experienced practitioners for it is easier and quicker to manage when there is a need to shift from one technique to another. Next is the plastic vacuum cup. It utilizes a mechanical suction pump to squeeze the air out from the plastic to produce a sucking effect. There are also cups made of bamboo and earthenware. Among all, the advantage of using bamboo cup is, it could produce the most powerful sucking effect specially performing the gliding technique that are much preferred by those patients who have a higher pain tolerance and are used to cupping treatment. But its weakness is changes in skin color cannot be seen until it is removed while having the stationary technique or quantifying the amount of blood being drawn during the bloodletting session, for it is not transparent and cannot see-through. Latest invention is the silicon cups. Among all, we find the sucking strength of silicon cups the weakest, but its advantage is areas that are not easily get sucked such as those at the far extremities; it could give a better hold.
Cupping is strictly prohibited to be placed on area with open wound or wound that has not totally healed. Other contraindications involve area with varicose vein, skin diseases area (unless purposely couple with bloodletting method to treat skin diseases by professional doctor), after taking alcoholic drink, those who are extremely tired and weak.
