Cupping – SW Calgary

Cupping – SW Calgary

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What is Cupping?

Cupping therapy is an ancient form of alternative therapy which you could think of as the opposite to massage. There is no pressure applied to muscles for this treatment. A therapist places special cups on your skin for a few minutes to create suction which stimulates your skin and muscle tissue. Where the cups are placed, blood circulation is increased which improves blood flow and promotes cell repair. Cupping has shown to release toxins from organs and body tissues, help with body pain in the back and neck, help with migraines, blood flow, help with digestion, and just for overall relaxation and well-being. If you have any of these conditions you might want to try a cupping upgrade to our massage treatments.

What Does Cupping Feel Like?

Contrary to the commonly-held impression, the suction of the cups does not hurt. In fact, most people find the sensation very pleasant, a sort of a release. The cups can remain in position for several minutes, or the therapist can glide them over the skin similar to the movements of a massage. This negative pressure is the opposite to a deep tissue massage – a pulling versus a pushing effect.

What Does Cupping Massage Entail?

Cupping involves the placement of “cups” on the body, whereby the air inside the cups has been removed to create a vacuum that allows the cups to stay attached to the body. The vacuum is created either by heating the air inside the cup before placing on the skin, or by a suction pump on the cup which sucks out the air.

So Why Place Cups On The Body?

The procedure is intended to get fluids moving through the body. But why would you want to do that? Simple: in Traditional Chinese Medicine, stagnation or lack of movement of fluids or energy is believed to be the root cause of pain and other health imbalances.  With a stagnant body of water in nature, it is often a breeding ground for bacteria and parasites, and not a healthy source of water you’d want to drink. Breaking up stagnation in the body and getting blood, lymph, and energy to move freely throughout the body can help the body to function and feel better. Another purported benefit of cupping is that it stimulates the nerves in the skin which has a calming effect on the nervous system.

Why Get Cupping Done?

You don’t just have to have cupping done on your back, the treatment can be done on many areas of the body, as well as over specific acupuncture points of meridians. Practitioners say it can be helpful for those suffering from pain, stiffness, fevers, lung issues, digestive issues, Bell’s palsy, water retention, or menstrual discomfort. Cupping can treat:
  • inflammatory conditions such as bursitis and tendonitis
  • muscular tension
  • stagnant lymph and edema
  • fibromyalgia
  • sciatica
  • flaccid and undernourished skin and muscle tissue
  • toxicity
  • chronic and acute pain

Still Cupping and Moving Cupping?

With still cupping, cups are placed onto one location of the body and left there. Therapists say this process is helpful to treat certain acupuncture points, specific areas of imbalance or tension, and rounded areas where suction would be lost if the cups were moved.  Moving cupping, on the other hand, involves an oil or lotion that is placed on the body, allowing the cup, with suction remaining engaged, to be moved over a larger area.  Moving cupping as a great way to cover a larger area of the body, predominately on the back, to treat conditions locally, as well as in other areas of the body, due to the location of acupuncture points on the back that treat other systems of the body.

Take some time. Treat yourself. You deserve it.

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