What is cupping?

What is Cupping?

Cupping is an alternative therapy that involves suctioning the skin with glass, plastic, or silicone cups. It may help improve blood flow, boost immune function, remove toxins, and reduce pain. Cupping therapy might be trendy now, but it's not new. It dates back to ancient Egyptian, Chinese, and Middle Eastern cultures.

How Does Cupping Work?

The suction and negative pressure provided by cupping can loosen muscles, encourage blood flow, and sedate the nervous system (which makes it an excellent treatment for high blood pressure). Cupping is used to relieve back and neck pains, stiff muscles, anxiety, fatigue, migraines, rheumatism, and even cellulite.

There are different types of cupping, including dry cupping and wet cupping (which involves medicinal bleeding). In a typical dry cupping session, the therapist will place a flammable substance such as alcohol, herbs, or paper in a cup and set it on fire. As the fire goes out, they place the cup upside down on your skin.

As the air inside the cup cools, it creates a vacuum. This causes your skin to rise and redden as your blood vessels expand. The cup is generally left in place for up to 3 minutes. A more modern version of cupping uses a rubber pump instead of fire to create the vacuum inside the cup.