What is Cupping Therapy?

Cupping is thousands of years old. There are ancient religious forms of cupping through to modern western therapy style of cupping.

Cupping involves see through 'cups' being placed on to a painful area of the body. A vacuum is then created, pulling the skin, fascia and muscle upwards.

Wet cupping has more of a religious background and involves cutting the skin to draw the blood out.. don't worry that is not what we do at The Sport Clinic! Dry only!

During a cupping therapy session at the clinic we use light massage to warm up the muscles, flash cupping (single or double cups at one time only, slowly moving up the body) to warm your muscles up and see how you react to the cups. Static cups that are left on for 10 to 20 minutes. Sliding cupping, where we use one cup sliding in the direction of your muscle fibres, and then soft tissue release cupping where we lengthen the muscle fibres whilst also being pulled up by the vacuum from the cups.

There are bamboo, metal, ceramic and silicone styles of cups. The clinic uses the safest modern version which are made of strong plastic.

There are lots of potential benefits from cupping including increased blood flow, increased range of motion and a reduction of inflammation, pain and muscular tension.

Cupping shouldn't hurt. There will be some skin tightness, and slight discomfort at times. But after the therapy you will feel relaxed and looser. Cupping does leave some round marks on your skin. They are burst capillaries underneath your skin. These are not true bruises and do not involve injuring muscle fibres. They normally fade within a week or two... but view them as a badge of honour, that you are looking after your health!

You should not undertake cupping therapy if you-

are anaemic

have a pacemaker

suffer from bleeding disorders such as haemophilia

suffer from deep vein thrombosis

have skin conditions like eczema or psoriasis

There is mixed evidence around the effectiveness of cupping. Experts note many different reasons why cupping might work. In fact, the success of cupping may result from a combination of reasons.

e.g. cupping therapy might:

• Encourage whole-body comfort and relaxation.

• Increase your pain threshold.

• Reduce inflammation.

• Enhance blood circulation.

• Remove toxins from your body.

• Reduce cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL).

• Help prevent cardiovascular diseases like atherosclerosis.

• Increase red blood cells.

• Stimulate your peripheral nervous system.

Most healthcare providers recommend cupping as a complimentary medicine treatment. In other words, you should use it in combination with traditional Western medicine rather than as a stand-alone procedure.

So if you are looking for something slightly different within your health and recovery protocols. Why not give the cupping therapy a go at The Sport Clinic.

Any questions, please contact me.