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Cupping Therapy
Cupping therapy is an ancient form of alternative medicine in which a local suction is created on the skin; practitioners believe this mobilises blood flow in order to promote healing. Suction is created using heat (fire).
Ben has trained with esteemed cupping master and traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner - Bruce Bentley. Bruce is renowned throughout the world as the foremost expert on the ancient modality of cupping therapy. Ben has attained his advanced qualifications in modern and ancient cupping. Cupping therapy is a great adjunct to remedial massage and dry needling.
The no-fuss term “cupping mark” should be adopted because among the people of diverse cultures who have traditionally practised cupping, a technical or “official” title has never been given for them. They are quite simply a matter of routine in the course of treatment.
While the Chinese call them yinzi, meaning “marks,” the Greeks in northwestern Thessaly for example use the term dachylidia indicating “rings”. In the words of Mrs Fontini Stravou from the mountainous village of Koniska in central Greece: “A bruise is due to an injury to the body. The cupping mark is a different thing. In Greece we don’t regard cupping marks as bruises." And Mrs Maria Petariki, who was born and lives in Hania, Crete, explained: “The more coldness and pain, the darker (blue and purple) the marks are. They are a good thing”.
Those who grow up with cupping know that the mark is a meaningful and encouraging indication that some variety of pathogen(s) has been brought to the surface by the drawing power of the cupping vessel. It is a visible sign of success, and is in no way “unnatural” or at odds with any stage of the healing process. As a point of emphasis, it should be understood that this does not mean that cupping without producing marks has been unsuccessful.
- Exert from: A cupping Mark is not a bruise The Lantern, Vol 12 - 2,
What is the cupping mark and why it is NOT a bruise?
One of the most frequent questions and doubts about cupping is about the cupping mark that is left on the skin after treatment.
This is NOT a bruise - a bruise is a hematoma or a breaking of the blood vessels and consequent leaking into the surrounding area, usually caused by a blow or some other violent trauma.
So what is a cupping mark then? Bruce Bentley describes it as follows.
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