There’s a trend in medical treatment today toward drug-free treatments, spurred in part by the worldwide opiate crisis. Re-exploring ancient therapies adds options to the therapeutic toolbox without relying on pharmaceutical treatments that often take their own toll on patients.
At Active Care Chiropractic & Rehabilitation, we practice a modern form of cupping therapy, a traditional Asian treatment that dates back thousands of years. Cupping uses suction to selectively stimulate blood flow to or away from target areas in your body.
Modern cupping relieves pain from arthritis, joint pain, and soft tissue injuries, as well as treating a range of metabolic and systemic conditions. Today, we’ll take a closer look at five benefits offered by modern cupping therapy.
Cupping takes its name from small cups used with negative air pressure to create a vacuum between your skin and the inside of the cup. These cups can be made from a wide range of materials including glass or plastic, and also ceramics, silicone, bamboo, and metal.
The suction associated with cupping can release interstitial debris, waste by-products that can’t leave the body through normal drainage channels like the circulatory and lymphatic systems.
Cups also promote vasodilation, a process that encourages fresh blood vessel creation and improved circulation. Since your body delivers many of the raw materials for healing through the circulatory system, better blood flow can boost the efficiency of healing.
Traditionally, cups created suction through heating and cooling using open flames. Today, modern cupping uses flexible cups and pumps to create low pressure within the cup.
Cupping is an excellent complementary therapy to conventional treatments, since it’s not drug based and typically doesn’t interact with other aspects of your treatment plan. In essence, cupping introduces a controlled injury that stimulates natural healing.
While your body does an excellent job of clearing metabolic wastes and foreign objects through blood vessels and lymphatic pathways, small amounts may be missed, accumulating over time, along with other environmental toxins. Cupping disrupts your body’s status quo, freeing these unwanted substances for more efficient disposal.
The suction action of cupping pulls blood into undersupplied areas. This vacuum action can disrupt superficial capillaries, nudging the body into revascularization. New vessels form with increased capacity for delivering blood to these targeted areas.
An important effect of improved blood flow comes in the form of reduced inflammation and associated pain relief. Inflammation is a natural part of natural healing responses, but too much inflammation can be a problem. Controlling inflammation often leads to controlling pain.
When you exert yourself through exercise and hard work, muscles endure microdamage, the source of fatigue and soreness. Cupping draws healing resources into muscles and other soft tissues, including cartilage, ligaments, and tendons.
Muscle groups have a thin, slippery covering called fascia that allows easy movement against neighboring muscle groups. What you might know as muscle knots are adhesions in the fascia, scar tissue that reduces muscle mobility. Cupping can break down this fascia scar tissue, easing stiffness.
These are just a few of the many benefits offered by modern cupping therapy. Find out more in consultation with the cupping specialists at Active Care Chiropractic & Rehabilitation. Book your visit online or by phone with any of our five locations today.
