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Cupping Therapy: What Is It and How Does It Work?
Apr18th2023
If you are under excessive stress and tension, and your body is constantly aching and in pain, you might consider getting a pain relief massage, meditating, or a hot bath. But have you ever considered opting for cupping therapy forpain relief in Michigan?
Cupping therapy is in trend these days. It is a popular technique among professional sportspeople, athletes, and even celebrities. Many people have found relief from chronic pain via cupping therapy. This blog is a comprehensive guide on what cupping therapy is and talks about its working and benefits.
What is Cupping Therapy?
Cupping therapy is an ancient form of therapy that has been in use for thousands of years to treat pain, release muscle tension, and several other ailments. It has been quite popular in the Chinese, Egyptian, and several Middle Eastern countries. People worldwide are adopting cupping therapy as a treatment for several health ailments.
It is a non-invasive method that decompresses soft tissues using vacuum suction to address body ache issues. The cups used in this therapy can be made of glass, silicon, or bamboo. The therapy provider can place these suction cups on your legs, arms, back, stomach, and other body parts.
When these cups are applied or placed on the skin, it increases blood flow, relieve muscle stress and tension, and promotes healing.
Additionally, many believe that cupping balances yin and yang, the positive and negative of the body. It restores balance and stimulates the flow of energy in the body, which will help the body’s resistance to pathogens, toxins, and infection-causing viruses and bacteria, along with its ability to reduce body aches and promote overall health.
What Does It Treat?
Cupping therapy is a versatile treatment useful for several health issues. That is because its primary function is to promote cell repair in the body and stimulate adequate blood and oxygen levels in all tissues and parts of the body. Cupping can be used to address issues like: –
1. Dry Cupping – In this type of cupping, dry suction cups are placed on the skin, creating suction by heating the air inside the cups with different strategies. The cup stays in place for a few minutes and is then removed.
2. Wet Cupping – Wet cupping is similar to dry cupping. But it involves making small incisions on the skin before applying the cups. The incision allows a controlled release of blood and other toxic fluids out of the body.
3. Running Cupping – This cupping type involves moving the suction cups around the body. During running cupping, your practitioner may apply oil on the skin for massage, which helps release tension and improve circulation.
4. Flash Cupping – Flash cupping is where the cups are quickly placed on and off the skin, creating a pulsing sensation
What are its Benefits?
1. Cupping Stimulates Tissues To Release Toxins
As the modern lifestyle overloads your body with toxins, it is essential to get rid of them. Cupping therapy will help your body improve blood flow and circulation. This circulation, in turn, will further help fish out toxins through the lymphatic system.
2. Cupping May Help Reduce Stretch Marks and Scars
As increased blood flow allows the release of toxins from the body, restores lymphatic circulation, and removes excess fluid, also known as edema. All of this helps reduce the appearance of scars. Several studies have also found cupping helpful in eliminating stretch marks, even in areas far from where the therapy occurred.
Besides that, cupping for stretch marks promotes healthy skin by stimulating the supply of essential nutrients and oxygen that supports healthy skin.
3. Cupping May Help Relieve Digestive Problems
Cupping is believed to work on the parasympathetic nervous system responsible for regulating essential functions like breathing and heartbeat. This helps clear colon blockages and increase the blood flow to the digestive tract, which further assists your stomach and intestines move things along the way, leaving you feeling comfortable and relieving indigestion.
How Does Cupping Therapy Work?
As per the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, cupping therapy involves the usage of cups made of different materials to create suction on the skin. This suction on the skin creates a negative pressure environment that lifts the muscle fibers to draw blood from the area.
Suction from cupping expands and breaks the blood vessels under the skin. Your body treats this breakage of blood vessels like an injury, stimulating the body’s natural healing process. There are several ways the cupping therapy works: –
1. Increases Blood Flow – The suction created by the cups in cupping therapy helps increase blood flow circulation in the area, promoting healing and reducing pain and inflammation.
2. Releases Muscle Tension – Applying the suction cups on the skin will also help release muscle tension, improving flexibility and reducing muscle pain and stiffness.
3. Stimulates the Lymphatic System – Cupping therapy can also help stimulate the body’s lymphatic response, which removes toxins and waste from the body.
4. Triggers the Relaxation Response – Cupping therapy also triggers the body’s relaxation response promoting a sense of well-being and reducing stress, depression, and anxiety.
What are the Side Effects of Cupping Therapy?
Usually, cupping for treating pain in Livonia will give you circular marks on the skin where it took place. This is a sign of increased blood circulation. These circular marks are not bruises, won’t necessarily be painful, and will most likely go away in a week.
However, there might be a few side effects, including lightheadedness, soreness, and discoloration. All of these side effects will only last for a while. In case of any severe side effects, bruising, or skin scarring for a long time, it is better to consult your healthcare practitioner.
Wrapping Up
Overall, cupping therapy is a safe and non-invasive technique to promote healing and reduce pain and tension in the body. While it may not be effective for everyone, It is a worthwhile treatment for those seeking a holistic, pain-free, quick approach to their health issues and overall health and wellness.
If you are planning to get cupping therapy for pain relief in Michigan, you are at the right place. Back 2 Health provides the best clinicians and practitioners with extensive experience in providing cupping therapy for various conditions. Call now for more information.