Ever seen someone walking around with big purple circles all over their shoulders or back and been deeply, deeply confused? Don’t worry — it’s nothing scary.
That’s cupping, and it’s not just some fad! Cupping is an ancient type of alternative medicine that can be traced back to Ancient Egypt, China, Korea, Tibet, Latin America, and more places. One of the oldest medical textbooks in the world even writes of how ancient Egyptians were using cupping back in 1550 BCE!
The material that the cup is made out of depends on the region, and cups could have been made out of anything from animal horns to bamboo.
So, what does cupping do? In Chinese medicine, cupping follows the Daoist model of holism, which is the philosophy that systems and the people and things within them must be viewed holistically, not just as a series of individual parts. The idea is that because humans are extensions of the universe, they are impacted by imbalances around them and in nature, which can be corrected through cupping.
The more physiotherapeutic implementations exist to help with muscle pain, inflammation, and blood flow, and provide a deep-tissue massage and relaxation, among other things.
There are two types of cupping therapy: dry and wet. Both kinds involve the therapist putting a flammable substance — like herbs or alcohol — in a cup and lighting it. When the fire starts dying down, they will place the cup upside down onto the area of treatment. Some new methods of cupping forgo the fire, using rubber pumps instead.
The cup creates a vacuum as it cools that causes your skin to rise into it and reddens the blood vessels, which leaves those purple circles after the treatment.
Wet cupping is different, with an additional step in the process where, after the therapist removes the cups, they use a scalpel to make tiny cuts in the areas of suction. Then, they put the cups back on to draw a small amount of blood. “Needle cupping” also exists, which involves the therapist placing acupuncture needles in the skin and cups over it.
If you are interested in cupping as a form of medicine, make sure to ask your doctor if it’s safe for you to do!
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