Chronic Pain and the Ancient Art of Cupping
For those of you who have enough pills to take, you could talk to your physical therapist like Rob and opt for cupping procedures as a therapy to help relieve chronic migraines, back pain, arthritis, internal disorders like asthma, hay fever and stomach aches, facial paralysis (Bell palsy), lumbar disc-herniation, cervical spondylosis and even herpes zoster.
Justin Bieber, Jennifer Aniston, Victoria Beckham and Gwyneth Paltrow are known for their healthy lifestyles, and they are each fans of cupping!
Athletes also use cupping as a secret weapon. Who knew?
… click here for a video demo by Expert Village
The Procedure: Moving Chi and Blood
- Place plastic cup strategically on areas of the back as determined by pain
- Burn air inside of bamboo/plastic cup to create extreme and intense pressure. The blood is “sucked” to the surface of the skin to recirculate the blood, surfacing fresh, un-congested blood to the area and your body’s tissues
- Toxins are released, and despite the somewhat uncomfortable “tight” sensation, feel relief
Researchers suggest that placement of cups on selected “acupoints” allows for the occurrence of hyperemia (hemostasis). The practice has been around for close to 2,000 years and has been practiced in hospitals throughout the world effectively since the 1950’s. There are several different types of cupping as well: wet, retained, moving, and flash. The NIH’s NCBI PLOS (Peer Reviewed, Open Access Journal) features many articles and reviews of randomized controlled trials, evaluating the therapeutic effect of cupping.
Cupping is part of traditional Chinese medicine.
It is definitely a little weird, but with all of the Patient Worthians out there living with rare diseases and looking for more homeopathic therapies to incorporate into their daily rare disease management regimens, I had to do some digging and look into it.
My friend Rob posted some really weird pictures on instagram not too long ago, that made me say, “so he does acupuncture and… what the hell… is that cupping?!” Funny though, PW Contributor Liz (a mutual friend) actually liked the pics and commented on how much she loved cupping.
As a #spoonie living with Cushing’s Disease, Liz’s commenting made me uber curious about this apparent ancient Chinese therapy for chronic pain.
I reached out to Rob for the down low, so check back with @PatientWorthy to read about Rob’s first cupping experience and love affair ever since!
Are you a rare disease patient who refuses to let chronic pain get in the way of living your life? Have you tried cupping?
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