Cupping has been popular in Egyptian, Chinese, and Middle Eastern cultures going back thousands of years, but increasing numbers of people worldwide have been adopting it. Celebrities and athletes have popularised it in recent years.

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What is cupping supposed to do?
According to its advocates, cupping is supposed to
promote healing and has been used extensively for sore
muscles. But that’s only the beginning.
Cupping has also been used for:

• back and neck pain

• skin diseases such as acne and hives

• lowering cholesterol

• migraines

• knee arthritis

• improving immune function.

And there are many others. If cupping does help with these problems, it’s worth asking: how? From a biological perspective, it’s not clear how the application of suction and drawing blood into an area under the skin would provide all these benefits. A recent review of the treatment describes cupping as a treatment that can strengthen the body’s resistance, restore balance between positive and negative forces, remove disease-causing factors, and promote blood circulation. But exactly how is unclear.

Does cupping work?
Several peer-reviewed academic publications have found that cupping provided some relief for chronic neck or back pain.

Are there risks involved with cupping?
Experts agree that cupping is safe. As long as those treated don’t mind the circular discolorations (which fade over a number of days or weeks), side effects tend to be limited to the pinch experienced during skin suction. It’s quite unusual that cupping causes any serious problems (though, rarely, skin infections have been reported).

If you’d like to learn more about cupping please book in with one of our friendly myotherapists.

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Reference: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/what-exactly-is-cupping-2016093010402