I wanted to write a short piece about cupping, really just a thought or two. When we trained in Seattle at the Seattle Institute of Oriental Medicine, all we really learned was running cupping using a traditional glass fire cup, and at the time I believed that was what everyone did. This is the traditional process, glass fire cupping. That means, we use a flame to heat the cup. The cups are not hot to the touch, maybe slightly pleasantly warm. The cup is heated away from your body, but near enough that we can quickly get the cup on you, and voila! Suction.
There are plenty of cheap cups out there that don’t work particularly well. The ones you see most commonly are the pump cups, where there is a hand pump at the apex of the cup, and a tiny hole. I do believe that cups vary widely in quality. Over time, we developed our very own cups, all handmade. For awhile, I had to use the plastic pump cups in a hospital setting, because of course they wouldn’t allow me to use traditional fire cups. They kindly bought a plastic cup set, but I absolutely had no luck with them at all, and for the most part they had weak suction and fell right off, which wasn’t fun for anyone.
The cups we use are lightweight, heat easily, and more importantly I believe they work better than any other cup.
The cup is placed on the skin – generally, the back, shoulders, between the shoulder blades, and even the neck or nape. Those are the main areas to cup. We oil the area we are going to cup. For that, we use an all-organic grapeseed oil base. The cup arrives on your body, and I test the suction – too strong, too light? How does it feel to you… OK, too strong, too light? And then, we slowly move that cup, just one usually, around the body. I go over the same areas again and again usually, and ever time you pass over it, it starts to “magically” soften and sooth. We both can feel this, I moving the cup (it moves more easily) and you the patient also feel this (the pain is lessened, you feel “looser”). So, this is running cupping.
The other kind of cupping, that I learned was what almost everyone does, is stationary cupping. This is where you find people with the big red circles on their body. In this case, the cup was left on that one spot for awhile. Usually, many cups are used in this case. It’s not like this is a bad approach, but I believe that the running cupping approach is a better approach, because we both (you and I) have immediate feedback.
When you come in to see us at Perfect Point, often we will do running cupping, always using our special handmade cups. Even if you are coming in for say, a nonrelated seeming condition (stress, for example)… maybe cupping could be appropriate. There are always other tools at our disposal, for example, gua sha, moxa, microcurrent. We work with you to find the best approach, but cupping is a favorite treatment modality and if you choose us, you will get the opportunity to experience it if you’d like.
Continuing in June, we are offering a half off special. Give us a call to discuss, 603-465-1236.