FIRE CUPPING IS CHINESE FOR “FLU SHOT”
Did you know there are many beneficial uses for cupping besides recuperating muscles post-workout? One of our favorites is to boost immune strength.
When winter rears its ugly head, it's time to talk immunity. At Elm City Wellness we are already thinking about preparing our bodies to make it through the cold seasons like champs, in other words...without getting sick. Our first order of business, is cupping.
To boost immunity we focus treatment the focal point of the immune system: the neck, upper back, and shoulders. Keeping this zone free, clear and flowing is an absolute must in all treatments for those with chronic colds and flus, sinus infections, respiratory infections, and cough.
The reverse is true too. If these areas of your body are subject to the stagnating effect of chronic tightness, you may find yourself vulnerable to the onset of a cold or flu. Ever notice how right before you go under the weather your neck and shoulders ache like crazy? And shortly after your nose starts running?
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Cupping's suction action liberates stagnated circulation in tissues and pulls toxins out to the surface, where they are properly metabolized and removed from the system. This leaves many with the famous mark of Chinese detoxification - red or purple hickies.
The force of suction from a cup is nothing compared to the force of an injury that bruises, and therefore breaks ALL affected capillaries both stagnated and healthy. Cupping can't touch a healthy blood vessel, only a stagnated one that is already pathologically clogged and full of pressure.
Vessels within inflamed, pathological tissue are vulnerable and break easily to the suction of a cup. This causes the once "clogged" vessel to reform into a healthier, normalized condition. See, in cupping we are dealing with tissues in which blood was already pathologically stagnating. Healthy tissue does not bruise nor produce clotting under the force of cupping.
If you see someone who had cupping looking sucker punched by round circles, it is because they already had a particularly intense level of backed up toxins and stagnation in stiff, problematic tissue. You'll see this often in patients during or post flu. Healthy tissues subjected to the same cupping force, will show nothing but a pinking of the skin that quickly disappears after cup removal. It's not uncommon to see intense red or purple marks in the pain area after cupping, and absolutely nothing a few inches over where the tissue is healthy.
Cupping restores the proper currents through your system, giving you back the energy you once lost to tension. Post cupping, patients with an oncoming cold often notice the disappearance of runny nose, head fog, stiffness and aching, and that general sensation of "coming down" with something. Used on those with a cold or flu already in full effect, cupping often helps the illness run its course more rapidy and prevent lingering symptoms.
But even better is to use cupping to prevent a cold or flu altogether by keeping a free and clear current flowing in your neck and back starting now and through the Fall and Winter.
Now, the caveat. Cupping isn't right for everyone. There are people with certain conditions (i.e. clotting disorders) who aren't good candidates. So if you're not sure whether it's for you - just ask your acupuncturist. It's our job to let you know if you're good to go under the cup.