Actress Gwyneth Paltrow caused quite the stir at a New York film premier back in 2004 when her low cut top revealed some circular bruises on her back. What were those strange marks on her body? Had she subjected herself to some barbaric form of torture?
For those people who are familiar with cupping, a three thousand year-old alternative therapy, the marks were a tell-tale sign of the treatment. Why is Gwen subjecting herself to a type of therapy that leaves these marks? Cupping involves placing heated cups over the skin to increase blood circulation while reducing stress, aches, and pains. Cupping actually has a lot in common with acupuncture—both are ancient Chinese healing methods that focus on the movement of blood, energy, and other fluids in the body. According to Chinese medicine, pain and sickness occur when these systems stop flowing properly.
Both acupuncture and cupping work to stimulate the flow of blood and other fluids in the body. Cupping has been said to be particularly effective in relieving pain the muscles and clearing congestion in the chest, which can be caused by repeated colds or flus.
So, exactly how is cupping performed? The therapist uses a few glass cups, which appear to look small fish bowls. Each cup is then heated with an open flame, and then the cup is quickly applied to the surface of the skin. As the cup cools down, a vacuum is created that sucks the skin up a few millimeters into the cup. The cups are left on the body for a few moments while the air beneath it helps to alter the body’s energy. Many modern cupping therapists use a pump instead of a flame, which helps to eliminate the risk of burning and provides a much more accurate way of gauging the amount of suction.
Cupping is frequently used on its own, but it can be used in conjunction with other alternative therapies like acupuncture and bodywork. The warm air form the cupping helps to stimulate the skin, and the suction coaxes blood to the areas where healing is needed. While cupping is not painful, people report feeling the blood being drawn into the muscle and tend to have circular bruising marks that disappear quickly.
Today, cupping is used to treat respiratory disease, digestive and gynecological disorders, headaches, and blockages in the lymphatic system. Many people who frequently suffer from common colds swear by this technique, as to people who have sustained soft tissue injures or insomnia.
While there are no clinical trials that prove the effectiveness of cupping, there is something to be said about a treatment that has been satisfying customers for over three thousand years!
