Myofascial Dry Cupping



You may, or may not be familiar with 'dry cupping'. You might have recently seen some pictures of people with big circular suction marks (possibly Olympians). In this blog post I'm going to explain what dry cupping is, why I love to use it on my clients and why it leaves a mark.
Cupping therapy has been used for many years, it actually dates back to ancient Egyptian, Chinese and middle Eastern cultures. There are different types of cupping therapy, (fire, wet, dry) but I use Dry Cupping.
Dry cupping is when silicone cups are placed on your body, usually covering several areas, a vacuum effect is created which lifts your soft tissue, creating an upward stretch within the fascia and the muscle. The cups can be moved around the body to have a deep tissue massage feel, or left static.
But what does this do and why does it mark?
The lift of tissue (vacuum) increases blood flow to the specific area, meaning fresh blood is concentrated in this spot, this is what leaves the circular mark. When new blood flow is introduced to an area, it brings with it nutrients and oxygen.
The vacuum effect stretches the tissue, creating separations between the tissue and sometimes causing micro-trauma, your body then beings the natural healing process and releases various chemicals in your body to heal the injured area.
This also helps to reduce muscular tension and discomfort, and as a result, improved range of motion.
So, in a nutshell, if you're experiencing:
reduced mobility
muscle aches/pains and tension
muscular stiffness
back pain
sciatica
stress and anxiety
headaches
Then cupping therapy could help you recover by increasing circulation, therefor bringing oxygenated and nutrient rich blood to the area, removing waste products and stagnant blood, stretching your connective tissue and helping to kick start the healing process.
Give it a try today, you might just love it! If you've any questions pop me a message