Cupping is a treatment method used in Traditional Oriental Medicine that requires using glass cups or ceramics, fast insertion of fire into a cup to eliminate oxygen, creating a vacuum, and then immediately placing the cup on some part of the patient’s body. When a vacuum is formed with the patient’s skin, and pulls the skin upward. Traditional Oriental Medicine practitioners believe sickness is caused by qi stagnation or obstruction of qi. Cupping opens the pores, promotes the flow of blood and Qi, breaks down obstacles, and establishes a pathway for toxin removal from the body. In certain situations, the cup will slide by the practitioner while still suctioned to the skin around the body after applying oil to the desired area, resulting in pulling a localized skin and muscle. This technique is known as gliding cupping.
Most likely, cupping will leave circular red marks where the cups have been, exhibit little bruises following the session, and red skin as the blood vessels respond to the change in pressure, all of which usually will go away after a few days of the treatment. Patients should not exercise, shower, or swim for the remainder of the day. If the upper back is treated, wearing a thin T-shirt after treatment is advisable to cover the exposed skin.
Cupping therapy is not suggested for everyone who takes blood-thinning medication.
Also, cupping treatment is not recommended for those with sunburn, a wound, a skin ulcer, experienced recent trauma, thinning skin, and an internal organ disorder.