If you have been sitting at your desk for eight hours a day, working non-stop through deadlines, or doing physical work or even working out intensely, the chances are, at some point, you have experienced shoulder and neck pain or tension.
Acupuncture For Good has an excellent tracking record in helping those suffering with shoulder and neck pain and tension due to high stress and anxiety.
Can you Benefit from Cupping Therapy?
If are constantly suffering from neck and shoulder pain or tension, cupping might be the right therapy to help you get some relief.
Cupping is one of the many modalities of Traditional Chinese Medicine. At Acupuncture For Good, cupping is often used in conjunction with acupuncture to help maximize the treatment.
Now is the best time to book a cupping therapy appointment and get some help to release some of the pain and those muscle tension accumulated in the past few months from intense summer exercises, physical labour or sitting in front of a computer for prolonged period of time.
Rest assured that Acupuncture For Good has taken all the Covid-19 precautions for your safety. You can enjoy as many appointments as possible before the year end insurance deadline.
What is Cupping Therapy?
Cupping therapy is a Traditional Chinese Medicine therapy that has been practiced for thousands of years. It involves the creation of vacuum through the application of suction. Usually the traditional method is done using fire in a cup and applying to the skin, typically on the area where the pain, tension or discomfort is experienced.
How Does the Skin Respond?
Once cupping is applied, the local skin area becomes flushed and may show signs of bruising. The cupping resulting colour is also used as a diagnostic tool for your therapist to better understand what is happening with your body.
Who is most likely to suffer from Neck and Shoulder pain?
Neck and shoulder pain, usually occurs in middle and old-aged people. However, more and more young adults, living a more sedentary lifestyle due to school/work or physical labour and bad posture, are experiencing shoulder and neck pain too.
What are the Therapeutic Functions of Cupping per Traditional Chinese Medicine?
1- Warming the channels to remove cold, (warming the body)
2- Promoting qi and blood circulation, (increasing blood movement, causing vasodilatation and stimulating blood circulation, therefore, increasing metabolism and accelerate the elimination of waste and toxins from the body)
3- Relieving swelling, (promoting lymphatic drainage)
4- Accelerating healing, (through the boost of blood flow)
5- Adjusting body temperature, (releasing heat or warming the body)
Who can Benefit from Cupping?
Cupping can help a wide variety of conditions, from:
- fibromyalgia
- stroke rehabilitation,
- hypertension,
- facial paralysis,
- acne,
- cervical spondylosis and
- mostly alleviating musculoskeletal pain, including chronic neck, shoulder pain, and lower back pain
Are There any Evidence Based Studies to Validate Cupping as an Effective Therapy?
A study published in 2016 on The Effectiveness of Cupping Therapy on Relieving Chronic Neck and Shoulder Pain, showed that neck pain intensity severity scores were reduced from 9.7 to 3.6 in the cupping group and from 9.7 to 9.5 in the control group.
In recent years, interest in cupping has re-emerged, and as a result, several studies have begun to investigate the mechanisms underlying cupping therapy. For the conventional doctors trained in western medical sciences, the focus is mainly on the biomedical causes of disease, while traditional medicine practitioners take a more holistic approach to the matter.
A compilation of 64 articles were reviewed, the results indicated that certain effects and outcomes related to cupping therapy from a Western Medicine perspective might be linked to its mechanisms of action, resulting in neural, hematological, and immunological effects. From a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective, the increase redness brings about the increase in blood flow to the local area (moving qi and blood), thus promoting muscle relaxation, eliminating toxins, regulating temperature. At a systemic level, it results in the increase of endorphins production in the brain helping alleviate and control the pain.
To find out more book an appointment today to learn more about cupping therapy.
For direct link to the studies, see below: