Cupping tools have been widely used by Traditional Chinese Medicine and other traditional medicines throughout history.

Cupping jars use vacuum to create suction. They are applied on areas such as the back, limbs and some points on the thorax. Cupping moves blood and fluids outward, helping to expel pathogenic factors and move stagnation. If the suction is intense and fixed, it breaks capillaries and generates a hematoma that heals in a few days.

Observing how the skin reacts to cupping also provides diagnostic information: if it quickly turns red or purple, it indicates fullness, Heat or stagnation. If instead the skin remains pale or takes a while to turn red or pink, it indicates deficiency.

Indications

• Pain treatment: as pain is often due to energy and blood stagnation, the cupping quality of moving blood and fluids makes it especially suitable for pain treatment.
• Paralysis: cupping massage helps stimulate circulation.
• Bi Syndrome: cupping helps expel Wind, Cold and Dampness from the channels.

Types of cupping jars

• Bamboo cups: they break easily and are not transparent, so they are not used much anymore.
• Glass cups: a little cotton soaked in alcohol and lit on fire is used to create the vacuum. They require practice to learn to use them safely. Take fire prevention precautions.
• Plastic cups with suction gun. They allow easy control of suction intensity. There are ones with magnetic accessories to combine cupping therapy with magnetism.
• Plastic cups with bulb: the suction is gentler. They are very practical for massage.
• Disposable plastic cups: the most hygienic option for doing bleeding with cupping.

Cupping treatment techniques

Static cupping

Consists of leaving a set of fixed cups on the area to be treated. They are left for 5-10 minutes depending on the patient's skin. Remove them if they start turning blue to avoid hematoma (if this happens, it's nothing to worry about, it's normal).

Static cupping is a technique that works well for bringing blood to deficient areas. Chronic internal problems and Blood stasis. Also for cold gelosis: areas harder on palpation that are not red or hot, they don't hurt or give a dull, soft pain on pressure. They can be placed for example at BL-23 when there are cold lumbar areas due to Qi deficiency or Kidney-Yang.

Normally patients with deficiency need more time for the hematoma to form, in these cases the skin turns at most a little red.

Rapid cupping

Take a cup, put it on and peel it off quickly, again and again. Activates Qi-Blood in the area. Normally done with glass cups.

This technique makes a "clapping" effect on the thorax to move phlegm. It is very pleasant and gentle. Drains and oxygenates tissues, improves circulation. Works well for paralysis, paresthesia, stroke.

Have more cups prepared in case the edge gets too hot.

Cupping massage

Cupping massage improves circulation, skin respiration, softens contractures. Helps eliminate Dampness. Indicated for cases of muscular atrophy.

Oil is applied to the skin, petroleum jelly can be applied to the edge of the cup if the patient has a lot of hair. The cup is applied to the skin and slid over it gently. It is usually applied on the back, alongside the Du Mai, along the Bladder channel. With smaller cups, massage can be done on the extremities and face for cosmetic purposes.

It is a global harmonization treatment, activates all points.

Cupping massage can also be applied on the abdomen to move the colon, very gently. That the patient not be menstruating and use light suction.

Cupping with bleeding

Cupping with bleeding or scarified cupping works well for treating hot gelosis (if you have seen that massaging, stimulating an area a little makes it very red quickly), contractures, fullness, external pathogenic factor attack, stagnation or Liver-Fire excess. Bleeding cupping eliminates local blood stagnation and Heat from an organ. For example, in acute bronchitis it could be applied at point BL-13, Back-Shu of Lung. Normally this technique is applied on back areas. Tung's acupuncture also uses bleeding cupping on back points for treatments of pain in other areas of the body and to relieve various symptoms.

First disinfect the area to be treated, use gloves and take care of hygiene. Bleed with a seven-point hammer, with a lancet or with a thick needle and apply the cup, to extract the blood. It is applied for 5-10 minutes, if it bleeds too much it is better to stop. Wait for the dark blood to go away. To remove the cup, remember to put on gloves and have absorbent paper or gauze prepared to collect the blood. Circle the cup and lift it from one side, absorbing and cleaning the area with the paper.

Use disposable sterile cup. Boiling to sterilize does not guarantee that all pathogens are properly eliminated.

Bleeding cupping is contraindicated in patients with anticoagulants.

See Microsangraduras.