No, I am not an Olympic level athlete. In fact, I’m lucky if I get in a walk a couple times a week. So what’s the deal with trying cupping? Good question. To begin with, it wasn’t my idea. However, it was a suggestion from my acupuncturist and I trust her implicitly so I figured, ‘Why not try it?’
I am currently seeing my acupuncturist for some neck and shoulder pain, and it is helping me in a way nothing else can. I’ve seen her on and off over the years for a variety of reasons, in fact I posted about her a while back because I think their practice is the absolute best, but this time it is pain that started a month or two ago when I woke up and finally had reaped the repercussions of sitting on the couch on zoom calls all day for months and months on end.
The doctor gave me muscle relaxants and steroids. Which helped a bit, but had no long-term impact. So I went to my acupuncturist and they’ve been helping me ever since. But I digress. Yesterday, after a very thorough treatment, I was feeling extremely good and was almost ready to go when she asked if I wanted to try cupping. I paused for about five seconds when she asked before saying yes. Mostly because I wasn’t sure if I’d heard her correctly. I’ve always been intrigued by the practice, so I jumped at the chance.
Since I was excited to try it, she went ahead with the treatment. Oh my gosh, it was sort of what I’d imagined but felt nothing like I thought it would. The first cup was on a particularly sore spot. The suction from the cup as the air was removed from it was surprising and even hurt a little, but then I could literally feel the muscle start to let go even more than acupuncture had gotten it to. Three cups later I had a total of four on a very small part of my shoulder leading up to my neck and I could feel the difference almost immediately. I actually still kind of in shock, to be honest.
Now, let me clarify, it hurt a little when the air was removed and my skin snd muscle was sucked up into the cup. But it wasn’t hurting in a bad way. It was the kind of hurt you get in a deep tissue massage where you know it might leave a mark, but you also know it’s getting deep into tight muscles. So, immediately after the treatment I thought I was a little crazy for doing it because what had felt very loose and even after acupuncture, now felt painful again. However, by the time I was home my whole shoulder had opened up and I could feel the difference. A day later, I feel better than I have in months.
For those of you who don’t know what cupping is, cupping is an ancient practice dating back at least 3000 years. In Chinese medicine it was used to treat a variety of conditions, but today it is often used to treat conditions involving tight muscles and tension headaches. The cups can be used all over the body but are most often used on the upper and lower back as well as the neck and shoulders. The cups leave circular marks you might have seen on athletes in the last Olympics and while they look like large bruises; they aren’t. They can look dramatic, but they do not hurt at all.
So now I have a new weapon in the arsenal to fight muscle pain and tightness. And I’ve found a new thing to capture my interest since my craft of the month club is seriously late in sending my February craft to try. I love to read and research so I’m going to go dive in to the history and uses of cupping.
Duct Tape and Dreams 