What is the cupping / vacuum treatment?

Cupping or vacuum treatment involves using vacuum pressure to increase blood circulation to muscles and joints. Cupping has its origins in China and has gradually spread to the West.

What is cupping?

Cupping is an alternative treatment technique used in the treatment of sore muscles and painful areas of the body. In the treatment, a glass cup is used which is placed against the areas being treated. The glass cup / suction bowl is first heated so that a negative pressure is formed inside it, before it is placed against the skin. This theoretically causes (the form of treatment lacks good evidence) a microtrauma to the area which may be painful, but which contributes to increased blood circulation in the area.

How does cupping take place?

Normally, the cups are allowed to sit on the area for 5-10 minutes. Multiple areas can be treated simultaneously. Bruising and the like may occur after treatment. Patients with bleeding disorders or pregnant women should not be treated in this way. Cupping can be used for muscular pain / muscle knots, headaches, migraines, chronic pain, poor blood circulation and the like.

- What is a trigger point?

A trigger point, or muscle node, occurs when muscle fibers have departed from their normal orientation and regularly contract into a more knot-like formation. You may think of it as if you have several strands lying in a row next to each other, nicely assorted, but when placed crosswise you are closer to a visual image of a muscle knot.This may be due to a sudden overload, but most normally it is due to a gradual failure over an extended period of time. A muscle becomes painful, or symptomatic, when the dysfunction becomes so severe that it becomes pain. In other words, it's time to do something about it.

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