Cupping Therapy For The Treatment Of Pain And Digestive & Immunity Issues

Until recently, the alternative therapeutic method known as cupping therapy has never been heard of by most people living in the West. In China, however, this therapy has been widely used since 1000 B.C. In fact, ancient documents show that some forms of cupping practices are significantly older, reaching as far back as 3000 B.C.

The popularity of cupping therapy has a slew of health benefits that often eclipse the therapies of Western modern medicine.

What Is Cupping Therapy?

The Chinese consider cupping therapy a unique healing technique that has been passed down from one generation to the next. According to ancient Chinese documents, cupping was a popular way to treat conditions of the elite and royals and was initially practiced by Taoist medical physicians.

Throughout the years, cupping therapists have successfully treated a wide range of diseases and symptoms including pinched nerves, muscle spasms, back pains, colds, pulmonary tuberculosis, and many more that couldn’t be cured by conventional therapies. It has also been traditionally used in patients with anemia and other blood disorders, and people suffering from mental illnesses, fertility problems, arthritis, and other rheumatic diseases.

Although the longest history of cupping used in Asian countries like Korea, Japan, and China, was with the use of heat, a somewhat identical technique known as “wet cupping” has also been used for hundreds of years in Middle Eastern countries. Cupping therapy has recently become increasingly popular in the U.S. and other Western countries, as certain physicians have begun including acupuncture and cupping into the treatment plan of their patients in order to naturally relieve chronic infections, congestions, and symptoms without the need for medications. These days, this healing practice is offered in several holistic health centers, massage parlors, and in clinics that offer Traditional Chinese Medicine treatments.

Promoters of cupping are confident that the method helps eliminate toxins and adverse substances from the body that, in turn, strengthens immunity.

Does Cupping Therapy Really Work?

 The Journal PLoS ONE published report in 2012 of a review involving 135 studies on cupping therapies featured between 1992 and 2010. The reviewers noted that cupping is more superior to the placebo effect because it produces positive results similar to herbal medicine and acupuncture in the treatment of a variety of inflammatory, hormonal, skin, and digestive diseases.

As with massage therapy and acupuncture in Saratoga Springs, one of the biggest advantages of trying cupping therapy over mainstream Western modalities is that these procedures are completely devoid of adverse unwanted side effects like surgery or pharmaceutical drugs do.

Actually, cupping and other alternative therapies have no downside to them since research has shown they can help strengthen immune function and cut down healing time without the use of herbs or drugs. The following are just some of the benefits provided by cupping therapy.

Five Cupping Therapy Benefits

As an alternative medical procedure, most of cupping therapy’s validity comes from its long history of use over the past three millennia. Cupping procedures have been extensively used to treat a wide spectrum of symptoms and disorders, either in combination with other alternative therapies or a standalone practice.

The use of cupping therapy is usually accompanied by acupuncture, essential oils, massage therapy, or even as a complementary treatment to Western medicine procedures.

Based on limited studies about cupping, what we do know is that it works by dilating the capillaries and boosting the amount of fluid coming in and out of the tissues. In addition, the therapy appears to trigger some form of relaxation response in some individuals, meaning it can help reduce unwanted effects.

Although we can find a mountain of anecdotal evidence that prove cupping is safe to use and works, there is scarce clinical evidence about its efficacy making it difficult to “prove” many of its benefits. Be that as it may, over the years, cupping has worked for millions of people. Below are some of the ways that cupping can be used to help you:

1. Cupping Has The Ability To Treat Colds And Respiratory Problems

Cupping therapy can help shorten healing time from respiratory diseases such as the common cold and flu as it’s commonly used to expel congestion or phlegm and help nourish the lungs. It can help enhance immune function by moving lymphatic fluid and blood throughout the body. This is because cupping has been known to treat lung diseases such as asthma infections, allergies and especially chronic coughs

One of the oldest applications of cupping therapy is in the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis and other respiratory conditions long before prescription drugs came into being.

1. Cupping Helps Relieve Pain

Nowadays, people tend turn to alternative treatment methods because they’re looking for a safer way to reduce muscle pain and joint pain naturally. According to Evidence-Based Complimentary and Alternative Medicine, a report that reviewed scores of clinical randomized trials testing the efficacy of cupping therapy in patients with pain of any origin, showed that cupping reduced pain substantially in people suffering from low back aches and pains more so than the standard treatments for low back pain. Cupping therapy also brought about beneficial effects in the treatment of cancer pain compared to conventional painkillers and anticancer medications, and helped alleviate pain affiliated with respiratory diseases.

Cupping is believed to ease tight muscles and relax stiffness associated with fatigue, rheumatism, migraines, neck pains, and chronic back pains and release tissues deep within the body. Aside from boosting their performance in a natural way, some athletes have been known to receive cupping in order to lessen stiffness due to scar tissue caused by injuries, joint pains, and muscle cramps.

Cupping can treat soft tissue inflammation by administering local pressure to areas of swelling and sites of pain, increasing circulation in the capillaries and vessels. Cupping therapists utilize needles, suction, heat, and/or pressure below or above the area of injury, enabling chi or energy to move along the energy channels (meridians) that pass across the injury.

In order to reduce pain, the cups are usually applied over the following areas: around the lower back, on the neck (to relieve tension headaches over the fleshy part of the scapula or shoulder blades), and over the loins/groin.

1. Boosts Digestion

In Chinese medicine, cupping and acupuncture are the two most popular ways to alleviate symptoms and conditions like IBS or irritable bowel syndrome as well as to improve digestion. This is mainly due to the fact that the two modalities can lessen the stress response of a patient, which is very much connected to a healthy functioning digestive system.

Over the centuries, cupping therapy has been used by people suffering from water retention, gastrointestinal conditions, appetite loss, diarrhea, and frequent stomach pains. For problems related to the digestive system, cupping is usually administered in the following areas: over the abdomen, around the kidneys, over the bladder, and around the navel.

1. Enhances The Health Of The Skin

Although unknown to most people, cupping can actually be used to treat skin inflammation, acne, cellulite, and herpes. Although there is not enough clinical evidence to prove it can help people lose weight, what is known and proven is that cupping can firm and tone your skin by expanding the capillaries and increasing blood flow making it a closely guarded beauty secret among people in the spotlight and celebrities who want to have their skin toned naturally. As part of a cellulite or skin-clearing treatment, oil is initially often applied to the skin before the cups are suctioned and moved around, distributing heat to the treatment site along with various skin-healing substances based on the kind of oil used.

Since cupping helps reduce inflammation and improve blood flow, research has found it to be even more, or at least, as effective as antibiotics in treating acne. In a six study meta-analysis of acne treatment, the rate of cure of wet cupping therapy was superior to the rate of cure following use of ketoconazole, tetracycline, and tanshinone prescriptions.

1. Promotes Relaxation

This might appear counterintuitive, but since cupping has the ability to calm the central nervous system, it usually does relieve physical conditions and enables people to enter into a more relaxed state. This is the same with acupuncture, which people often assume is uncomfortable and hurts but actually appears to help reduce the patients’ stress levels and so can offer protection against depression and anxiety.

How can cupping generate relaxation in a person? During a cupping session, just the act of being “taken care of” and laying still can benefit a person’s psychological health, which could be why cupping is used to treat mental illnesses. The cups may need to remain attached to the body for around 20 minutes or so, once they are placed down and suctioned, which forces silence and stillness on patients who might otherwise lead frenetic lives. One other reason why cupping is relaxing is due to the fact that the cups help remove pressure in tight muscles, which produces a calming sensation just like being given a deep tissue massage.

The British Cupping Society believes that cupping therapy can safely treat a wide gamut of conditions that include:

• Cellulite and varicose veins
• Acne, eczema, herpes and other skin problems
• Respiratory infections
• Muscle stiffness and aches
• Tension headaches and migraine
• Depression, anxiety, and certain mental disorders
• Joint pain caused by fibromyalgia and arthritis
• Hypertension or high blood pressure
• Asthma and food allergies
• Gynecological disorders and infertility
• Blood disorders such as hemophilia and anemia