Cupping is done with the use of small, round, jar like containers, made of glass or plastic, which, when attached to the skin exert a negative pressure, thus, pulling blood to the area. Ancient texts tell of using animal horns to draw poisons out of the body. In Egypt, Galen and Hippocrates used cupping to restore health.
Many types of cups have been used over time, horn, bamboo, rubber, earthenware, and others. Modern use types are mostly suction valve pumping, either plastic or glass, or glass jars in which negative pressure is achieved by quickly withdrawing oxygen from the cup with a lit piece of cotton soaked in alcohol.
Benefits of Cupping Therapy
Gua-Sha, also known as "dermal friction", is a scraping technique applied to the surface of lightly oiled skin, with a special piece of bone, or stone, called a medical board. "Gua" means to scrape or rub, and "Sha", is the term used to describe the appearance of a faint pink, or, red, sand like rash, also known as petechiae, intentionally raised by this technique.
Benefits of Gua-Sha:
Helps with pain and stiffness, especially if it"s chronic, comes and goes, is helped by massage, but returns afterwards; or, sudden onset of a kink, like a stiff neck
Treats respiratory, digestive and gynecological disorders