What is Cupping?
Why You Should Add Cupping to Your Next Massage Treatment:
Cupping therapy involves briefly placing inverted plastic, glass, or silicone cups to certain parts of the body, creating suction on the skin.
This suction creates negative pressure, allowing for the separation of adhered or fused tissues. This negative pressure can draw out debris trapped deep beneath the structures and encourage circulation in the tissues, affecting tissue up to 4 inches deep. This technique is used as a way to relieve pain, promote relaxation, enhance blood flow, and ease inflammation.
How will cupping benefit you?
- Encourages circulation in the tissues: Cupping increases blood circulation to the area where the cups are placed. This can promote cell repair. It may also help form new connective tissues and create new blood vessels in the tissue.
- Helps to clear stagnation and remove interstitial debris: The vacuum formed by cupping draws up the old non-circulating stagnant blood and sticky fluids from the area, bringing them up to the surface and away from the injury so that healthy free circulation can be restored to the affected area, thus creating space for oxygen, living cells, and nutrients for faster recovery
- Lifts, rehydrates, and manipulates fascia: Fascia is a system of connective tissue that encases our body parts and binds them together. Fascia also connects your skin to the tissue that is directly beneath it. It’s very easy for the fascia to become stuck to the structures it surrounds and the negative pressure from cupping allows for some release.
- Helps reduce inflammation and swelling: Increased blood flow enables your body to dispose of toxins, restores lymphatic circulation, and helps remove edema (excess fluid)
- Causes beneficial micro-trauma in tissues: Cupping can help break up scar tissue adhesions, allowing better flow of blood and lymph and freeing bound muscular tissue for improved range of motion and performance.
Reviews From Clients who found Relief with Cupping:
What to expect from cupping?
None of the above colors are necessarily “negative”. The difference in the color/shape of the cupping marks can give some insight into what’s happening inside your body.
2&3
Moderate and severe stagnation will typically leave marks that last a little longer (~ 10 to 12 days). They indicate that something is happening (or has happened) in the tissue, leaving behind the stagnant blood, cellular waste, and/or pathogens.
4
Indication of dampness. The vacuum affect from cupping also attracts a fresh circulation of lymph. This fluid removes the inflammation and brings in immune cells that support the healing process.
5
Toxin accumulation can look like little speckled, irregular or uneven, and this can indicate specific past injuries, adhesions or scar tissue build up.
Cupping after-care:
- Hydrate! Give your lymphatic system the xtra fluids it needs to help flush your body of the toxins that were just brought to the surface
- Keep the areas that were treated covered and warm if possible
- Avoid alcohol
- You may feel fatigued the next day. This is normal, It’s your body processing and expelling the toxins that were released during your cupping session.
- Take it easy, get extra rest, and practice good self-care.
- It’s common to have “strange or weird” dreams after a cupping session.
Potential side-effects:
Cupping is fairly safe, as long as you go to a trained health professional. Some of the commons side effects you could experience are:
- Mild discomfort
- Irritation
- Bruises
Interested in learning more?
All of our registered massage therapists, along with select physiotherapists are trained in cupping and can help answer any additional questions you may have before your treatment.
To find out more about how cupping may benefit you, contact Foundation Physiotherapy & Wellness today.
THIS SERVICE IS AVAILABLE AT:
Jared Bruce
MScPT, Dip. AIM, FCAMPT
Clinic Lead, Registered Physiotherapist (Lead Associate), FCAMPT
Tina Homayouni
PT, FCAMPT, CIDN
Clinic Lead, Registered Physiotherapist (Lead Associate), Concussion & Vestibular Physiotherapist
Pak-To Kwok
MScPT
Registered Physiotherapist, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist & Running Consultant
Jason Ngai
MScPT
Registered Physiotherapist, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Concussion Rehabilitation Consultant
Nikola Nacev
RMT
Registered Massage Therapist (Senior Associate)
Alisha Morrison
RMT
Registered Massage Therapist (Senior Associate)
Karlyn Driedger
BScKin, MScPT, CIDN
Clinic Director, Registered Physiotherapist (Partner Associate), Pelvic Health Physiotherapist
Nicole Conzelmann
MScPT
Registered Physiotherapist (Lead Associate), Home Care Lead, Running Consultant, Concussion & Vestibular Physiotherapist
Alexander Djuric
MScPT, CIDN, ACC Level 1Registered Physiotherapist (Senior Associate), Strength and Conditioning Consultant
Allison Cumberbatch
RMT
Registered Massage Therapist (Senior Associate)
Tina Homayouni
PT, FCAMPT, CIDN
Clinic Lead, Registered Physiotherapist (Lead Associate), Concussion & Vestibular Physiotherapist
Erald Osmani
MScPT
Registered Physiotherapist, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist & Running Consultant
Daniel Otoo-Appiah
RMT
Registered Massage Therapist
Perry Kathirgamanathan
MScPT
Registered Physiotherapist, Running Consultant, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
Dr. Anisa Boland
DC
Chiropractor