Most of us have come across friends, coworkers, family members or athletes with circular bruises covering their limbs, back, and upper body, and chest. If they received these painful-looking marks after undergoing Cupping Therapy, why even go through it?
For sure there are benefits to it. The use of Cupping Therapy can alleviate ailments such as back and neck pain, strained muscles, strained tissues, and other such issues.
Below is an overview of the practice of Cupping Treatment, how it all started, benefits, risks and Cupping Therapy services we offer at Santa Clara Custom Chiropractic.
What is Cupping Therapy?
Cupping Therapy is an old therapeutic technique done by adding cups to chosen skin nodes and generating subatmospheric stress by either heat or suction.
Cupping is aimed at the body’s muscle and skeletal system. To generate the necessary vacuum, this type of treatment utilizes mechanical suction machinery. Attached to a hand-operated suction pump is a cup or a cylinder and this cup is applied to the skin. The chiropractor may first palpate the body of the patient to find the regions requiring therapy. Before attaching the cup, the cream is spread on the skin. It is possible to use cups of variable dimensions and often more than one cup is applied at a given moment.
There is typically minimal bruising that will dissipate in a couple of days. Cupping Therapy draws blood to the impacted region, bringing essential nutrients to healing aid. The suction’s inverse pressure slowly improves tissue flexibility and eliminates swelling if any. This type of therapy operates very well in cases where patients are unable to undergo treatment with acupuncture.
Cupping is used to alleviate sports injuries, repetitive strain injuries, chronic pain situations, and severe flare-ups. Patients with muscle and bone-related circumstances will discover this treatment to be very efficient.
One of the earliest medical documents to cite Cupping Treatment is Eber’s text (1550 BC) from Ancient Egypt. Egyptians were not the only ones. Cupping was part of many old therapeutic technologies, including Chinese, Unani, Korean, Tibetan, and Oriental medicine. It later spread throughout Italy and then the remainder of Europe during the Renaissance between XIV and XVII century. In Italy during this era, Cupping was a common therapy for gout and arthritis.
Why Cupping Therapy?
The primary processes for intervention suggested are the suction of subatmospheric stress, promotion of peripheral flow and improvement of immunity. Cupping Therapy has been shown to have a positive impact on the blood flow of the skin, changes in skin’s biomechanics, help with pain management, improve local anaerobic metabolism, reduce inflammation, and modulate the cellular immune system.
The process of Cupping Intervention is explained by many concepts. Guo et al. proposed the hypothesis of immunomodulation, proposing the same processes of intervention for cupping or acupuncture. The concept of immunomodulation indicates that the change in the microenvironment of skin stimuli could translate the neuroendocrine-immune system into biological stimuli. The hypothesis proposed by Shaban and Rarvalia was that mechanical stress (subatmospheric pressure) and local anaerobic growth (sub-atmospheric accumulation of O2) could cause both physiological and mechanical stimuli to incite or prevent gene expression in cupping suction.
Types of Cupping Therapy
Early classification of Cupping Therapy was determined as dry and wet. Another later ranking of cupping treatment in 2016 categorizes the treatment in six classifications. The first part is ‘ technical kinds, ‘ comprising flashes of dry, moist and massage. The second classification is “sugar strength” with light, intermediate and powerful cups. The third class is the “suggestion technique” that covers flame, manual vacuum and electric vacuum. The fourth classification is the “indoor cup material,” comprising herbal cups, water, ozone, moxa, pencil and magnet cups. The fifth category consists of the treatment of the face, and abdomen. And the last one, the sixth class consists of “other kinds of cupping,” covering athletics, cosmetics, and water cupping. Cupping kits can be made of fabric, glass, wood, ceramic, steel and silicone. At SCCC our practitioners offer myofascial decompression technique using air suction cupping and silicone cups.
What are the benefits of Cupping Treatment?
Cupping Treatment for preventive and therapeutic reasons has been used to promote wellness, specifically asthma, diabetes mellitus, rheumatoid arthritis, treatment of spine ache, throat and shoulder ache, neck pain, headaches and migraines, knee pain, facial paralysis, carpal canal syndrome. They can be classified into localization conditions (throat ache, lower back pain, and shoulder ache) and systemic illnesses (diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure, and RA).
According to the treatment, the cupping locations are chosen. In the base, the neck, abdomen, buttocks, and arms are used more often. Cupping can also treat other regions, like the neck.
Chronic neck and shoulder pain (NSP) is a common type of musculoskeletal pain typically occurring in middle and older-aged people. Chronic NSP is a common problem in adults. Chronic pain impact on the family involves social activities, changes in life, mental impact, and changes in future plans. Cupping Therapy mimics an analgesic effect that has few known adverse side effects and can be deemed safe. Employing Cupping Therapy around the neck and shoulder regions, combined with massage would be an example of a treatment you could receive at Santa Clara Custom Chiropractic.
What are the side effects of Cupping Treatment?
Cupping Treatment is mostly associated with scar formation and accompanied by wounds, headache, pruritus, dizziness, fatigue, stress in the muscles, anemia, nausea, development of the bullae, tiny hematoma or pain at the cupping location, skin infection, insomnia. Also, skin lesion, apertures of the body, eye, lymph node or varicose veins are usually affiliated with cupping.
Can anyone do it?
The contraindications for Cupping Treatment can be categorized in complete and comparative contraindications. It is completely prohibited in cancer cases and in those with any organ failure (kidney failure, hepatic failure, and pulmonary insufficiency). As well as In patients who use a pacemaker and those with hemophilia or comparable circumstances.
At Santa Clara Custom Chiropractic we make it our priority to disinfect the beds after each patient has been treated or to use plastic bed covers. The separation and storage rules for medical waste are crucial.
Conculsion
Cupping Therapy is an ancient practice of traditional and modern complementary medicine. Recently, proof of prospective advantages in the therapy of pain-related illnesses through cupping has been increasing. If you are around San Jose, Sunnyvale or Santa Clara in the Bay Area drop by our clinic to learn more and give Cupping Therapy a try and see if it is right for you. If you are interested in learning more or would like to book with Dr. Mati for a cupping appointment please call us at 408-248-8700.
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