Cupping Therapy
Cupping is an alternative therapy that involves placing cups on the skin to create suction. This suction is thought to improve the flow of energy in the body and facilitate healing.
One of the oldest medical texts to mention cupping therapy is Eber’s papyrus 1550 B.C. from1 Ancient Egypt, though cupping is a part of many ancient healing systems, including Chinese, Unani, traditional Korean, and Tibetan.
Greek physician Hippocrates, often referred to as the “father” of medicine, even compiled descriptions of cupping techniques.
These days, cupping therapy is usually found as a treatment offered by practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
It is believed the suction helps facilitate the flow of “qi” in the body. Qi is a Chinese word meaning life force. Many believe that cupping helps balance yin and yang, or the negative and positive, within the body. Restoring balance between these two extremes is thought to help with the body’s resistance to pathogens as well as its ability to increase blood flow and reduce pain.
Cupping increases blood circulation to the area where the cups are placed. This may relieve muscle tension, which can improve overall blood flow and promote cell repair. It may also help form new connective tissues and create new blood vessels in the tissue.
There is a growing body of research indicating how and why cupping may work.
In 2018 a review of studies noted that cupping therapy has reported benefits for a variety of conditions such as –
promoting the skins blood flow
changing the skins biomechanical properties
increasing pain thresholds
improving local anaerobic -without oxygen metabolism
reducing inflammation
boosting cellular immunity