Have you heard these words before and been curious about what they are? Have you seen pictures of someone with circular cupping marks on their back and wondered what that is all about?
Cupping and Gua Sha are techniques commonly used in traditional Chinese Medicine and Massage. These methods have been used for thousands of years to alleviate pain and treat chronic and acute conditions. One of the main goals of Chinese Medicine is to balance and harmonize the flow of energy in the body. This vital energy (or, qi, pronounced ?chee?) circulates through meridians, or channels, that pass through vital organs and musculature in the body. When qi becomes depleted or excessive, the result is often stagnation, which we feel as physical pain. Cupping and Gua Sha work in different ways to remove stagnation and rebalance the flow of vital energy through the meridians.
How do the guasha work ?
1.Choose an environment where the wind is not big and the air conditioner and fan can not be switched on for gua sha.
When we scrape the skin, our body pore will open, the wind blowing into the pore is not good for the human body. Choosing a suitable environment is a very important environment for preparation before scraping, and plays a whole role for scraping smoothly below.
2.Prepare guasha tools and scraping oil. Or other skin care essential oils are available.Select the scraping area to apply essential oil, select muscular areas to avoid blood vessels, clean the skin with water before scraping, avoid dust and some dirty into the hair follicle, causing bad infection of folliculitis.(Can speed up scraping speed?skin redness can stop scraping)
3.Do not blow or take a bath within 20 minutes after scraping. After that, you can take a bath. Scraping will cause pain. For scraping parts and symptoms, where pain can be scraped, where to avoid blood vessels, dredging symptoms will decrease.
How to use Chinese cupping ?
1. How to cup therapy - where to cup?
- Just put the cup in the body pain area. The machine is vertical to the skin. Please don't move the machine when you cupping(about a minute). You can use heating function and adjust the suction intensity according to your situation.
2. Can I do cup therapy every day?
- The same part can not be cup therapy every day. No more cupping should be done until the red circle of cupping has disappeared. Cupping can three times a day depending on the patient's condition. Generally, the time of cupping is 10 to 15 minutes one treatment. Generally, the time of cupping is shorter for patients with numbness of lower limbs.
Will I be bruised afterwards? How long will the marks last? Both of these methods can cause discoloration on the surface of the skin. It is a common misconception that these marks are actual bruises. Bruises are a result of broken capillaries due to impact and are often deep and sensitive to the touch.
Cupping and Gua Sha marks can sometimes feel slightly rough or raw within the first 24 hours of treatment, and do not tend to feel like bruises. The discoloration caused by cupping and Gua Sha is a result of congestion and toxins being pulled up from deep muscle and tissue layers, and releasing through the skin. The marks left behind usually fade and disappear within 2-5 days.
