Hello Random Tuesday!

Alright so a couple of weeks ago I went to my massage therapist whom I have gone to for over 10 years. I noticed these bulb looking things on her desk and asked her about them. She said they were for cupping and ever since the Olympics a lot of her clients have been asking her about getting cupping done. Up until the Olympics I’d never even heard of cupping so I was interested in what exactly it did. I, like most who watched the Olympics especially the swimming, saw the athletes with all these circles on their bodies; but didn’t know exactly what the point was. Well, last Tuesday I went back to my therapist and had my first cupping experience and super glad I did! Despite a few things I have slept so much better and felt so much better. So I thought I would share “my cupping experience.”

What Is Cupping Therapy?

According to WebMD, cupping therapy dates back to the ancient cultures of “Egyptian, Chinese, and Middle Eastern.” “One of the oldest medical textbooks in the world, the Ebers Papyrus, describes how the ancient Egyptians used cupping therapy in 1,550 B.C.” WebMD says “[p]eople get it for many purposes.” These “includ[e] help[ing] with pain, inflammation, blood flow, relaxation, and well-being,” as well “as a type of deep-tissue message.”

My therapist uses glass cups for cupping therapy on her clients; however, cupping therapy cups not only come in glass form but also silicone, bamboo, and earthenware. Earthenware, according to dictionary.com, is a “pottery of baked or hardened clay.”

My Cupping Experience

At first I was still very skeptical on the whole thing but again glad I had it done. When I first walked in I was still deciding if I wanted to go ahead with it, but my therapist was very good at convincing me.

The first thing my therapist did was massage the area she was going to place the cups. Then she got started on putting the cups in place. Now since I have scoliosis with a long scar down my back as you see in my pictures, she was only able to place the cups on the sides of my scar.

While the cups were on my back and doing their job, my therapist worked on my legs and arms which took roughly 20-30 minutes. During that time the places where the cups were initially hurt but then settled down. There were a couple of cups that didn’t want to stay suctioned down to begin with and then there was one that she had to suction down a couple of times because it kept popping off.

Right After Results:

  Here is what my back looked like after she removed the cups and massaged over the area for a couple of minutes.

As you see, there is one super dark circle that looks scary ugly.

Two Days Later Results:

So I had the cupping done on last Tuesday, on Thursday I had my mom take a couple of pictures so I could share the results. You will notice I have quite a few smaller bumps on my back now. I normally do not have these but the cupping therapy seemed to have caused all the bad toxins in my body to come out <– at least that’s my theory.

Four Days Later Results:

Most of my circles have disappeared for the most part except that one dark one. As you can see, it has faded a little but not all the way or even where it’s not noticeable.

Six Days Later Results:

Again, you will notice I still have the bumps but I’m sure they will go away within another few days. However, my really dark spot that once was, has faded a whole lot. At this point I’m hoping by the end of the week it will be gone.

There you go, a review on cupping therapy based on my cupping experience as a first timer. Would I do it again? Yes I would. Do I recommend others? Yes, I am actually trying to convince my parents to try it. For my mom I am hoping it may do something with her tremor in her arm due to her stroke she had back in 2004. As far as my dad goes, I would just hope it would relieve some of the pain he is in of which every doctor he’s been to cannot figure out what the problem is. Surely something has to give, right!?

Also, just to let anyone know who may be asking too, I have not put any of my essential oils on my back to help the healing process. I wanted to know really how long it would take for everything to fade away by itself. With that said, next time I have it done I will be using my essential oils; probably Lavender Essential Oil and Helichrysum Essential Oil.

Have any questions about cupping therapy? Please feel free to comment below and I’ll respond back as soon as possible! Thanks for visiting! Hope to see you again!

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Crafty JBird

References:

WebMD. Cupping Therapy. http://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/cupping-therapy. Accessed September 12, 2016.