Cupping is one of the oldest and most effective methods of releasing toxins from the body’s tissues and organs. Other terms for cupping are: fire cupping, body vacuuming, and the horn method. Cupping is the practice of applying a partial vacuum by means of heat or suction in one or several bellshaped vessels (suction cups) to parts of the skin. This causes the tissues beneath the cup to be drawn up and swell increasing blood flow to the affected area. This enhanced blood flow under the cup draws impurities and toxins away from the nearby tissues and organs towards the surface for elimination.
History of Cupping
The ancient Egyptians were the first to use cupping therapy. The oldest medical text book, written in approximately 1550 BC, in Egypt, describes bleeding by cupping used to ‘remove the foreign matter from the body’. Hippocrates and Galen were also great advocates of cupping. In the early days the technique was used solely for bleeding purposes. There were two schools of thought as far as disease was concerned:
a) starve the source of the sickness of the body
b) bleed to drain it away
Among the Egyptians and various nations, cupping appears to have been considered a remedy for almost every type of disease as well as an important means of preserving life. It is believed that cupping was first used in the ancient practice to suck blood from poisonous wounds. The earliest cupping instruments were hollowed horns with a small hole at the top through which the cupper would suck up the blood from the scarification previously made with a blade. In time, various natural resources began to be used to create suction. For example, natives along the west coast of North America, in the vicinity of Vancouver Island, used shells. In Europe, Asia, Africa and North America, hollow animal horns were fashioned to provide an effective cupping device.
By the mid to late 1800s, cupping was sharply criticized by the medical fraternity and had fallen away as a popular method. There were a few speculations as to why this happened. – It was during this period that the newly established scientific model of medicine began discrediting all other previously established traditional therapies in order to gain medical dominance. Opposition to cupping was therefore not based on a lack of effectiveness, but because of its lack of ”fit” with the growing interests and authority of the medical fraternity. This was relayed onto a set of social processes that stigmatized cupping and changed people’s attitude to many traditional practices. However over the past couple of decades the tide has turned and people are rediscovering that some practices have plenty of merit, hence the re-awakening of cupping as therapeutic option.
Benefits of Cupping therapy :
Before listing the benefits of cupping therapy, it is important to first look at the skin and its relation to the internal organs, the lymphatic and the immune system Any topical stimulus destined to influence and manipulate internal or external organs must start at the skin level. The skin is our largest organ, containing fluid, blood, blood vessels, connective tissue, muscles and a rich nerve supply. Our body’s first direct contact with the outside world is through the skin. It is also true to say that our skin is the mirror of our health: in good health the skin is shiny, tight and has a smooth texture. It responds to changes in temperature and is generally warm when touched. When the body is unhealthy, a dull, lifeless skin with little natural colour is observed. Apart from protecting the body from external pathogens, the skin has a major role in a number of body functions. It is the main organ of sensation, through millions of nerve endings contained in its structure. A rich network of blood vessels and glands provides an effective means of temperature control. There are two main layers of the skin: the outer epidermis and the inner dermis. The fatty subcutaneous region lies beneath these two. The epidermis is the cellular layer of the skin, varying in thickness from 0.1 mm in the eyelid to over 1 mm on the palms and soles. It has no nerves, connective tissue or blood vessels. In stimulating a particular point on the skin, a practitioner can influence and change a particular organ’s blood flow.
Effects of cupping therapy
a) skin
- – rise in skin temperature
- – promotion of metabolism in skin tissue
- – better functioning sweat and sebaceous glands
- – accelerates the secretion of salts and sebaceous matter and excretion of water
- – strengthens the renewal power of the skin
- – increase skins resistance to various harmful conditions
b) muscles
- – stimulates the expansion of blood vessels in the muscle hence increase blood flow
- – facilitates the flow of lymph
c) joints
- – increase blood flow to the joint
- – increase the secretion of synovial fluids
d) digestive organs
- – stimulates the target organ
- – increase in peristalsic movements
- – increase secretion of digestive fluids
e) blood – increase in blood circulation
- – rise in low blood pressure
- – influences the composition of blood: RBC and WBC, pH
f) nervous system
- – stimulates sensory nerves of the skin
- – affects ANS
Clinical Benefits of Cupping
The benefits of cupping continue for several days after the procedure – extended action. Cupping has been found to:
- Affect the body up to four inches into the tissues, causing them to release toxins
- Activate the lymphatic system
- Clear colon blockages
- Help activate and clear the veins, arteries and capillaries
- Activate the skin, clear stretch marks and improve varicose veins
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