Cupping Therapy

Cupping therapy is an ancient form of alternative medicine in which a therapist puts special cups on your skin for a few minutes to create suction. It is a Traditional Chinese Medicine therapy that has been used for more than 3,000 years that involves using special cups to apply suction over the skin of an affected area. Many different methods are used to produce a vacuum inside the cup to create this suction, from heating the cup to using a mechanical pump to just using the mouth to suck the air out. The cups are then left in place or moved around the skin to improve the blood circulation in the area, rid the body of toxins, improve general well-being, and help with many different ailments, including pain, inflammation, infections, and snake and insect bites. People have used cupping for thousands of years to ease back pain, neck pain, headaches and other problems.

How does Cupping work?

Cupping is said to increase blood circulation, relieve pain, remove toxins from the body, and activate the immune system. So, how does it do this? The suction creates a negative pressure in the cup, which causes the soft tissue within the border of the cup to get sucked into the cup. To balance equilibrium, blood will also rush in to the area underneath the cup, which will have a lower concentration of blood than the surrounding area.

Benefits of Cupping Therapy

• Increasing Blood Circulation

Blood circulation improves when blood is drawn into the space beneath the cup. The deeper layers of the muscular layer also benefit from the increased blood flow, which speeds up the repair of the cells there. The growth of new connective tissue and blood vessels (angiogenesis), which occurs during wound healing, is also accelerated by this. This can ease muscle tension, stop pain, and aid in the healing of soft tissue damage. In fact, cupping can draw so much blood to the area that the capillaries there may enlarge significantly and eventually burst, leaving the recognizable bruise markings. It is comparable to autohemotherapy, a therapy in which your own blood is removed and re-injected into the body, because the capillaries burst produce bleeding. It is thought to boost the immune system, prevent sickness, and provide healing properties.

• Relieving Pain

Cupping is well-known for helping to relieve pain. This could be because cupping can increase the pain threshold in the area. The counter-irritation idea, which believes that discomfort and pain from the cupping location lessens the pain from the original site, is another explanation for why cupping can alleviate pain. Acupuncture is well known for its ability to reduce pain in a variety of ways, and cupping has also been found to stimulate acupuncture points. First, it can stimulate muscles’ smaller diameter nerves, which then send impulses to the spinal cord, where neurotransmitters are released to prevent the brain from receiving pain signals. Endorphins that resemble morphine, serotonin, and cortisol can all be released as a result of acupuncture, and these substances can all aid in pain relief.

Similar to acupuncture, cupping can also activate particular nerve fibers, including mechanosensitive A-beta fibers that lessen pain input and C and A-delta fibers that block pain. By releasing adhesions in the muscles or fascia, the connective tissue between the skin and the muscles, cupping can help reduce pain. Cupping can help the muscles become less tense and more relaxed, by removing the fascia from the muscles. It also aids in pain relief, by delivering blood to tense skin and muscles and simultaneously removing waste products like lactic acid from the muscles, Muscle aches and pains can result from lactic acid accumulation.

• Removing Toxins

Evidence suggests that cupping can remove contaminated or impure blood from the affected area. The impure blood may contain inflammatory chemicals, degraded cells, clots, scar tissue, or other elements that may aggravate the injury and delay healing. The increased blood circulation in the region enables toxins contained in the soft tissue layers to rise to the body’s surface where they may be promptly mopped up.

Additionally, cupping has been shown to improve the immune system by inducing localized inflammation. White blood cells are drawn to the area by inflammatory chemicals, which also trigger the complement system, a component of the immune system that improves the capacity of antibodies and white blood cells to eliminate pathogens and damaged cells. Cupping can also increase the level of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interferon, which are signaling proteins to help combat pathogens and abnormal cells in the body.

And lastly, cupping can promote lymphatic movement. The lymphatic system is a component of the immune system that aids in the movement of white blood cells throughout the body as well as the removal of toxins, waste, and other unwanted substances from the body.

Cupping Techniques

There are many different cupping techniques, each with its own applications and purpose. Some types of cups are suitable for some techniques but not for others. These techniques are used for clearing out pathogens, stopping pain, nourishing the body, getting rid of toxins or scar tissues, improving organ functions, increasing blood circulation, which can help with healing, bringing nutrients to the muscles, and removing wastes in the body:

1. Dry Cupping
2. Wet/Bleeding Cupping
3. Moving Cupping
4. Flash Cupping
5. Needle Cupping
6. Moxibustion Cupping
7. Herbal Cupping
8. Water Cupping

Treatment of other conditions

Cupping Therapy is most well-known for treatment of pain, however, not only can it help stop pain, but also helps the body to repair itself, addressing the underlying problem causing the pain, whether it is an injury, tightness, or adhesions. It can be used to treat the following conditions listed below;

• Cellulite
• Stretch Marks
• Anti-aging /Wrinkles
• Abdominal bloating
• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Poor Appetite
• Irregular/ Painful Menstruation
• Infertility
• Menopausal Syndrome
• Common Cold
• Stomach Flu
• Allergies
• Asthma
• Acne
• Eczema and Psoriasis
• Shingles
• Anxiety and Stress
• Fatigue
• Insomnia

Uandnature Therapy Clinic offers all cupping therapy services, we have trained specialist and therapist that will take care of your body the way it should be. We are located at House 2, F8 Street Citec Estate, Mbora off Jabi-Airport Road Abuja, Nigeria.