Targeted Treatment: Cupping Therapy for Specific Conditions
Cupping therapy has been around since ancient times, but its uses remain relevant and helpful in modern alternative medicine. With precise application of pressure, it’s performed to treat countless health conditions, from common body pains to chronic diseases.
Many people get this therapy as a perfect and relaxing reward after weeks or months of heavy workload. It’s a few hours of treatment enough to send you into a peaceful reverie while sucking out pain and negative energy that have accumulated in the body. The cupping procedure and therapeutic techniques target muscle tightness and release tension from different areas, relieving soreness and other severe symptoms.
- Migraine
Cupping creates a vacuum inside the suctioned area, pulling the skin up and the muscles beneath it. This stretches the blood vessels and expands them for better and smoother flow of nutrient-rich blood to the head and neck. Increased blood flow to these critical areas minimises muscle tension and consequently reduces the frequency of migraine episodes. The relaxing and therapeutic procedure also helps the mind to calm down. This prevents migraine and its paralysing symptoms from arising due to pent-up stress.
- Asthma
Asthma is the narrowing of small passages in the lungs due to inflammation, which causes shortness of breath and chest tightness. During an asthma attack, the person experiences difficulty breathing, and the body will try to compensate through coughing, wheezing, or the combination of both. Cupping massage breaks down muscle stress at crucial points to enhance the circulation of blood in and out of the respiratory system. Better circulation helps in relaxing the air passages, stopping inflammation before it happens, and promoting overall lung health.
- Lower back pain
Stiffness in the lower back is another condition that benefits from healthy blood circulation and eased muscle tension through cupping therapy. The relaxing treatment eliminates pain and provides better range of motion. Cup placement depends on the type and severity of the pain as well as the specific area affected. The suction can be positioned on the hip and gluteal muscles, sacroiliac joint, or erector spinae muscles. Communicate your back problems with your therapist to get the most effective procedure.
- Arthritis
The major benefits of cupping, namely, reducing inflammation and providing better blood circulation, also extend to arthritis symptoms. The outward pressure and stretching of blood vessels and tissues disperse accumulated stiffness in the muscles and joints. This eases chronic pain from arthritis and improves mobility. Aside from addressing the soreness, a study also found that wet cupping is an effective alternative treatment for the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis by adjusting the innate immune response of the body against the disease.
- High blood pressure
Cupping massage and techniques are also performed to regulate blood pressure. High blood pressure may be the work of age, genetics, diet, and lifestyle. But whatever the cause, cupping may help you set your blood pressure to normal levels by freeing up the arteries from accumulated tension that clogs the flow; hence, improving circulation. Wet cupping may be administered to extract thicker blood out of the circulation and allow lighter blood to smoothly travel the veins. The cups may be placed at the base of the neck, upper section of the feet, inner thigh, inner calf, and other crucial points.
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Cup suctions are created on the hands and arms to relieve carpal tunnel syndrome. This facilitates the release of the compressed tension in the nerves within the hands and wrists, resulting in decreased pain. The negative pressure breaks down myofascial and scar tissue, which limits hand motion and makes it agonising to move and bend the wrist. Cupping therapy dissolves the pressure in the median nerve to restore its viscoelastic function and nerve conduction, allowing the patient to complete usual activities without pain.
- Gout
Gout is a form of arthritis characterised by red, tender, and swollen joints due to an excess of serum uric acid. This condition can affect anyone and appear suddenly during distressing episodes. Research has found that patients who took wet cupping showed lower levels of serum uric acid that causes gout attacks. Cupping with controlled bloodletting offers a helpful benefit to people with acute gouty arthritis.
- Psoriasis
This auto-immune disease that forms inflammation and patches of rashes on the skin can also be relieved with the help of cupping massage. Moving the cup around with the suction pressure stimulates the sebaceous and sweat glands. This improves the skin barrier function and significantly lowers the severity of psoriasis symptoms.
Cupping therapy and massage for different conditions
Whether it’s a throbbing lower back or chronic pain in the joints, cupping therapy and cupping massage can help relieve different conditions by breaking down accumulated tension in the muscles, nerves, and blood vessels. The vacuum it creates sucks out physical pain as well as mental distress, making it a relaxing and healing experience that’s perfect after an exhausting streak at work.