Dr Stephanie Lipnicki, DACM, LAc

I love cupping. . . I love giving patients cupping treatments. . . I love receiving cupping treatments. . .I love stationary cupping. . .I love sliding cupping. . .I love popping the cups.

Cupping is magical.

The results of cupping are magical.

Heart cupping marks along the back, photo credit Love Cupping

So why is cupping so magical?

Let me count the ways. . .

First of all, if you have NO idea what cupping is and why I am so over the moon about it, let’s start the conversation with what cupping is.

Personally I practice Fire Cupping in my clinic so I will start with how that works. I take a small cotton ball or cotton round and put it in the end of a hemostat (see images) and soak the cotton in rubbing alcohol. Then I put the flame inside a glass or ceramic cup and swiftly remove it and put the cup on my patient’s skin.

Dr Stephanie Lipnicki, DACM, LAc Fire Cupping

The flame burns the oxygen out of the cup and then creates a vacuum on the skin drawing the fascia and top of the muscle layer into the cup.

The alternative to Fire Cupping is using plastic cups that attach to a pump that draws the oxygen out of the cup and creates a similar vacuum suction.

Once the cups are placed, I leave them on for approximately 5 minutes (less if the reaction I see is very strong). I remove the cups and then usually place them somewhere else. This is considered stationary cupping.

When I do sliding cupping, I place the cups, leave them for 5 minutes and then start sliding them. What I love about sliding cupping is that where massage primarily presses into the muscles, cupping creates a pull and sliding the cups is almost like a reverse massage technique.

Glass and Ceramic Cups on a shelf — Glass and Ceramic Fire Cups on a shelf

If someone has chest congestion, I will use a technique where I ‘pop’ the cups on and off over the lung area of the back to break up phlegm so they can cough out whatever is stuck and make the cough more productive. I find this especially beneficial with kids recovering from being sick with almost any respiratory issue.

The popping technique hooked my kids on cupping. My daughter, once she realized how amazing cupping felt after she had a cold, would pretend she had ‘coughs’ because she wanted cupping. Don’t worry, I assured her she didn’t need to fake a cold to enjoy cupping.

One of my colleagues refers to the marks the cups leave behind as octopus kisses - which is one of my favorite descriptions.

Depending on the marks left behind by the cups, Acupuncturists are also able to get a glimpse at what is going on within the patient. Darker marks for instance indicate that things are not moving as well as they should be and often show up in places where someone is already experiencing pain. If the marks are pail, patients are often more fatigued, run down, what we often refer to as being deficient.

One of Dr Stephanie's patients with cups and cupping marks

And while oftentimes people will comment in regards to what the marks look like and say things like “It looks so painful” or “that must hurt”. . .IT DOES NOT.

It allows so much muscle tightness to release. Personally, I have had situations where I couldn’t stand because my back was in so much spasm and you could see the muscles pulling my spine out of alignment, did some cupping on myself and viola muscles stop pulling the wrong way and I can stand and walk again.

I generally do not repeat cupping until the cupping marks have faded in an area. As patients get better, when you repeat the cupping sessions, the marks are generally lighter and lighter each time because there is improved circulation to the muscles and tissues below the skin.

The difference between Fire Cupping and Non-Fire is that cups that don’t use fire are not glass or ceramic, they are plastic. They have a valve at the top that is hooked up to a hand pump that sucks the air out of the cup. Some practitioners opt for this because they cannot use fire in their clinics to practice fire cupping, or they just feel more comfortable cupping without fire.

I feel more comfortable with being able to sanitize glass and ceramic cups as well as feeling as though I can get a better suction from using fire cupping.

The history of cupping can be attributed to multiple cultures. While there are of course ties to Asian cultures and Asian medicine, I have friends from other cultures where cupping for health is part of their history as well. While personally Traditional Asian Medicine is near and dear to my heart, and I would love to give all of the credit to it, I can’t.

BUT we can still keep talking about how amazing it is.

The benefits include improved circulation which can relieve muscle tension, promote the repair of tissues, it helps to reduce inflammation, improves cellular metabolism, and it feels so good to get rid of those sore and achy muscles.

While just about anyone can benefit from cupping (as I said my own children grew up loving cupping) aside from musculoskeletal pain I use cupping on patients with endometriosis, fibromyalgia, headaches and migraines, and persistent coughing related to respiratory issues.

Sometimes patients will come for sessions where they combine Acupuncture and Cupping, or Acupuncture, Gua Sha (that will have to be a whole other blog), and Cupping, some patients get Cupping and Gua Sha, and some patients just get Cupping (or just Acupuncture).

If you are needle-phobic, cupping is a great way to start healing aches and pains in your body. But honestly, I am a super gentle needler and don’t needle anyone aggressively that isn’t ready for that type of treatment.

If you are ready to try cupping, pop on over to the booking site and get yourself on the schedule!

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See you on the treatment table!

Dr Stephanie

PS I do have the cups that leave heart shaped marks and they are not just for Valentine’s Day!