08.08.08
What is Cupping Therapy and How to Use It for Disease Healing
Resource:
How to Use Cupping Therapy and Moxibustion for Natural Healing of Diseases
Although best known for acupuncture and herbal medicine, Chinese medicine actually has much richer contents than just these two. For example, cupping therapy is a very useful healing method in traditional Chinese medicine. The mechanism of cupping therapy is to treat diseases through making local blood congestion to adjust the blood and qi circulation.
Cupping therapy is done through using a cup or jar to attach to the skin. Different cups or jars can be used, including bamboo cups or jars, glass jars, and pottery jars. Cupping therapy is often used for syndromes such as arthritis, as well as numbness of the limbs, acute sprain, and other external diseases. It is also useful for infectious diseases such as common cold and cough, and internal diseases such as stomachache and abdominal pain. Selected treating areas are usually disease areas, or acupuncture points, or certain routes on channels or meridians. Cupping therapy is also often used together with acupuncture.
To perform cupping therapy, first soak cotton balls in 95% alcohol. Next, use forceps to hold a cotton ball that has been soaked in alcohol. Start the process through igniting the cotton ball with a match. Then hold the burning cotton ball inside the cup or jar for about five seconds and then take out the cotton ball quickly.
As soon as the burning cotton ball has been taken out, attach the cup or jar to the selected body area. The flame can remove oxygen inside the cup and generate the vacuum effect. To treat a large body area, several cups can be used. Repeat the above procedures for attaching other cups. Let the cups or jars attach to the skin for about 10 minutes. To take off the cups or jars, press the skin around the rim of a cup or jar with a finger to let air in. The cup or jar can then be taken off slowly.
Several points should be noticed for performing cupping therapy. First, cupping therapy should not be used on patients with high fever, convulsion, or edema. It should not be applied at areas with large blood vessels, allergic skin, or skin ulcers. In addition, it should not be applied at the abdominal area and it should not be used on pregnant women.
While performing cupping therapy, be careful and do not burn the skin. The cup should not be retained at the treating area for too long, otherwise it may damage the skin. In case that the local congestion is very serious after the removal of the cup, do not apply cupping at the same area again. However, other areas can still be used.
