CUPPING
Cupping therapy is a very important part of Chinese medicine which has been used thorough out Chinese history. The earliest record of its use in China is in a book from a famous doctor named Ge Hong (281-341 A.D.). Since then it has evolved and has passed the test of time for effectiveness. Nowadays most Asian families have someone in their family that is competent to use this form of therapy for the whole family and has become a home therapy for certain conditions.
Cupping therapy is a form of treatment in which cups are placed over certain acupuncture points or over areas of the body to create suction. This suction is opposite to a massage, instead of pushing into tissue, the cups actually lift and stretch out the tissue by lifting it into the suction cup. This suction causes tissue that is painful, tight, or in spasm to be stretched out and allowed to become more normal and essentially released of tension, spasm and pain. For most patients, this is a particularly relaxing and relieving sensation. Once suctioned, the cups are generally left in place for about ten minutes while the patient relaxes.
Three basic processes occur to the body that can cause significant benefits for patients:
1. Cupping lifts the tissue up and pulls it into the suction cup in order to treat pain safely and effectively. By doing this, cupping helps reduce inflammation.
2. Cups can increase circulation. Cupping sucks body fluid, normal blood or stagnant blood to the surface of the skin helping to establish normal blood and oxygen flow to tissue. This is realized by the red to dark red color it can leave under the suction cup. The light or dark color left after cupping therapy can be an indicator of how the circulation is in the area of the cups. This is of clinical importance for the practitioner and usually the cups will be used in a course of therapy until the color becomes normal light red and a relief of pain or a problem has occurred.
3. Cups help to detoxify by pulling the cell waste, stagnant blood, or lactic acid out from below the cup causing it to dislodge and become more free to be discharged from the body. This is why drinking sufficient room temperature to hot water after cupping therapy is very important. This will help flush out un-wanted material from the body and help rehydrate the cells.
Benefits of Cupping Therapy:
1. Releases lactic acid and cell waste in the muscles or corresponding parts of the body
2. Improves circulation, oxygenation, and detoxification
3. Promotes relaxation of tight muscles
4. Soothes muscle spasms and tension in muscles
A vast amount of modern research has been performed in hospitals in Asia specifically relating to cupping therapy. Cupping therapy has now made its way around the world to virtually every continent in every direction. Many protocols for specific diseases have been created due to this modern research allowing new treatments to be developed and used.
Dr. Fontanini has had a special opportunity to study with a true master of Chinese cupping. Thanks to this master he has been taught many techniques and methods of cupping that are not regularly taught or known. His master has since passed, but his skill and technique are alive and well inside Dr. Fontanini. Please enjoy this art of natural healing that can help restore your health in a powerful way.