Chinese cupping therapy can be compared to a very deep tissue massage, but there are many more benefits to it.
Cupping helps to increase the circulation and reduce muscle spasms thereby relieving pain. It can also relieve tension in the back and the neck and many other body parts.
By increasing the blood flow and reducing muscle spasms, cupping can help drain excess fluids and toxins. When applied at the right time and place, it can often reduce inflammation. Also, it can loosen adhesions and revitalize connective tissue.
Cupping can be helpful in a variety of conditions:
- Low back pain
- Upper back pain
- Migraines and headaches
- Frozen shoulder
- Joint pain, such as Hip or Knee pain
- Fibromyalgia
- Sports injuries
- and much more!
Cupping has been used for over 3000 years in Chinese medicine. The first written record of cupping in Western medicine appears in the Ebers papyrus, a medical manuscript from 1500 years ago in ancient Egypt. The Egyptians had a long history of cupping especially with children who had ear or eye inflammation; it was also used for gout and many other diseases.
The first cups were gourds or animal horn. Herodatus, a 5th Century Greek historian, wrote about cupping for pain, inflammation, fever, vertigo, and induction of menses. Celsus, a famous Roman physician from 20 A.D., wrote about cupping. Hippocrates also wrote extensively about cupping using both brass and horn cups.
Historically, cupping has been used in Japan, China, and other parts of the Far East. Ancient Arab physicians spread its use through Italy and thereby it traveled through the rest of Europe.