Monique Bain cupping therapy, five element wellness center

What is Cupping?

By Monique Bain, MAC, LAC – Acupuncture Physician

They will be forever known as the purplish red marks that made millions of people wonder and search on the internet when they watched Michael Phelps debut at this year’s Olympics. While it may have looked like several Olympians with the same type of skin marks have been attacked by an octopus, the circles on their body are signs of “cupping.” A few years ago the Denver Broncos player DeMarcus Ware posted a photo on Instagram showing his back covered with 19 clear cups as therapist placed them on his skin. Celebrities like Jennifer Aniston and Gwyneth Paltrow have also been photographed with cupping marks on their skin.

Cupping is trendy now but it dates back much further than the Olympics, as far as 3000 B.C. It dates back to ancient Egyptian, Chinese and Middle Eastern cultures. One of the oldest textbooks in the world, the Ebers Papyrus, describes how the ancient Egyptians used cupping therapy in 1550 B.C.

Cupping therapy is a form of alternative medicine in which Acupuncture physicians put special cups on the skin that create suction. Athletes get it for many purposes, including to help with pain, soreness, inflammation, blood flow, relaxation and well-being. A more modern version of cupping uses a rubber, plastic or silicone pump instead of fire to create the vacuum inside the cup. This causes the skin to rise and redden as your blood vessels expand. The cups can be left for several minutes., bringing blood to areas that it doesn’t normally reach; by sucking skin into a cup, which releases connective tissue underneath that wraps around your muscles. Besides this, cupping therapy seems to provoke a relaxation response in some people, which means it’s useful for lowering stress and its negative effects.

Why would you consider cupping? Cupping provides pain relief, it alleviates cold, cough and allergy symptoms, promotes relaxation, detoxifies the body and heals injuries faster by inducing inflammation. It also improves skin related conditions, relieves digestive problems like IBS, provides anti-aging effects and can treat carpal tunnel syndrome.

Wondering if cupping really works? A 2012 report published in the Journal PLOS ONE reviewed 135 studies on cupping published between 1992 and 2010. Researchers concluded that cupping has benefits similar to acupuncture or herbal medicine for treating various digestive, skin, hormonal and inflammatory diseases.

Cupping can help breast cancer survivors with scarring, lymphatic drainage and swelling which often are a part of breast cancer surgery and treatment. Cupping relies on suction and not pressure and is less painful for the breast area post-surgery. Cupping can be used in conjuction with gentle manual lymph drainage techniques to significantly reduce lymphedema.

One of the biggest advantages to trying alternative practices like cupping therapy, acupuncture and massage therapy is that these methods don’t pose the risk for unwanted side effects like pharmacological drugs or surgery do.

5 Element Wellness Center | 7310 W. Mcnab Rd., Suite 107, Tamarac 33321
954-657-8342 | http://www.5EWC.COM

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