There are a number of Chinese remedies out there that cure all different types of health disorders. Acupuncture and acupressure have most likely been the most well known, but cupping has become a modern healing technique in the United States, although it has been around China for hundreds of years. Here are a few Chinese cupping techniques that help your body relieve pain and pressure to heal a variety of disorders.
How Does Cupping Work?
Chinese cupping is traditionally used for stagnation such as a harsh cough or congestion in your chest and lungs. Cupping begins with several small bell-shaped glasses usually in the size of a four-ounce cup. They were not always made of glass, but that is what the modern world has brought to this ancient healing remedy. The reason glass is used today is so that the practitioner administering the cupping technique can clearly see the process taking place and the results.
Creating small amounts of pressure in the cup is one technique used for improving circulation. A quick fire is made inside the cup to heat it, remove all of the oxygen, and create a vacuum so the skin on your body can be sucked into the cup. Once placed on the skin, the glass cup cools quickly and pulls your skin inside. Normally, eight to twelve cups are used in Chinese cupping, and they are placed along the back in two rows, one on each side of the spine. The healing process typically takes 20 minutes, and then the cups are removed. This will leave circular or disc shaped marks along your back that may not disappear for a few days. It does not mean you have been burned. It only serves as physical proof that the cupping process took place and has indeed worked.
Cupping and Acupressure Technique
This treatment combines both ancient healing traditions of cupping and acupressure. Like normal, the cups are heated, oxygen is sucked out, and they are placed on your back. But, before that is done, oil is applied to your skin so that the cups can be moved around your back easily without any friction. That is the acupressure technique being applied. This whole treatment is known as gliding.
Other Cupping Techniques
In keeping with the traditional cupping process, modern medicine has added the use of suction cups and mechanized pumps to intensify the treatment and move it along a little quicker. Most cups are made of glass, but the traditional cups still used in many Chinese institutions are made of bamboo.
Overall, cupping techniques have stayed the same throughout the years because it is typically done in areas where modern medicine is not and has not been available.
Tags: your back, ancient healing, Chinese cupping, cupping process, made glass, modern medicine