Cupping therapy is an ancient healing technique that some people use to ease pain.

A provider places cups on your back, stomach, arms, legs or other parts of your body. A vacuum or suction force inside the cup pulls your skin upward.

Cupping therapy is a form of traditional medicine that originated in Arabic, West Asia. People have practiced this method for thousands of years.

Other names for cupping therapy include cupping, cup therapy and suction cup therapy.

What does cupping therapy do?

Cupping uses suction to draw blood to or away from specific areas of your body. People mostly use cupping to relieve conditions that cause pain.

Some people say it also helps with chronic (ongoing) health issues. Cupping may ease symptoms of:

• Heart
• Kidney
• Diabetes mellitus
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Headaches and migraines
• Asthma and other breathing issues
• High blood pressure (hypertension)
• Arthritis, including rheumatoid arthritis
• Back pain, neck pain, knee pain and shoulder pain
• Gastrointestinal (GI) disorders like irritable bowel disease (IBD)
• Etc

Treatment Details

How does cupping work? Experts are still exploring how cupping eases pain and disease symptoms.

Suction from cupping draws fluid into the treated area. This suction force expands and breaks open tiny blood vessels (capillaries) under your skin.

Your body replenishes the cupped areas with healthier blood flow and stimulates proper and normal healing at a cellular level. Because of this effect, some people think that cupping releases toxins.

How do healthcare providers perform cupping?

There are different ways to do cupping. The steps vary slightly depending on the chosen method. Your provider will leave the cups in place for several minutes.

Some treatments involve briefly moving the cups to stretch and massage the area.

Cupping Methods Include

Dry: Your provider heats the inside of each cup. The traditional method involves setting an alcohol-soaked cotton ball aflame.

The heat sends oxygen out of the cup, creating a vacuum. A more modern approach involves using a suction device to remove air from the cups. The vacuum force pulls your skin up into the cup.

Running: This is like dry cupping. But before beginning, your provider will apply lotion or oil to your skin. Once they place the cups, they’ll gently move them in different directions over the affected area of your body.

Bleeding: Your provider uses a surgical blade to scratch your skin before placing the cups. This allows for the release of toxins through the suctioned blood captured in the cup.

Depending on the treatment, your provider may place multiple cups on your skin. On average, providers use between three and five cups, though they might use up to seven.

It’s uncommon to get more than seven cups in a single treatment.