Cupping is in the news these days. Many watched Olympians battle it out in Brazil with large red or purple circles on their skin. So you may be asking, “What’s this new thing called cupping?”

Let me begin by saying that it’s not “new” nor is it just a “thing”. Cupping has been around since Ancient Egypt and Greece, almost 3,600 years ago, and has been an effective therapy of Chinese medicine for thousands of years. That this therapy was used in ancient cultures does not mean it is irrelevant or not effective in these modern times. In fact, its continual use for thousands of years in countries all over the world is indicative of its value in treating human disease and pain.

Cupping therapy is the method of using glass, plastic, bamboo or suction cups to create localised pressure by a vacuum. This vacuum creates a suction — a pressure gradient — where the superficial muscle layer is drawn up into the cup, stimulating the circulation of blood, loosening adhesions and allowing toxins to be drawn out of the tissue and into the lymphatic system.

These actions accelerate the healing process. Simply stated, cupping is one of the best deep-tissue therapies that can positively affect tissue up to four inches deep. It is like having a massage, but instead of downward pressure, the warm cups pull up the skin, muscles and fascia, releasing tension and increasing circulation. While the results may look extreme, it is painless and can be a very relaxing treatment.

The earliest record describing cupping was found in the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus from 1550BC — 3,566 years ago. It was then introduced to the Greeks and used by Hippocrates “The Father of Western Medicine” — 400BC — and spread across Europe and Asia.

In China, cupping has been used AD281. It was practised by many famous physicians in medical history and widely used by European and American physicians in the late 1800s and even into the late 1930s. Since 1950, cupping has been an official therapeutic practice in Chinese hospitals and, in 1991, the clinical efficacy of cupping was confirmed by a joint research project between Chinese and Russian acupuncturists.

Some common benefits of cupping include:

1, Treats muscle pain and dysfunction

Cupping releases muscle tension, decreases trigger points, increases range of motion, promotes healing in scar tissue and areas of chronic injury.

2, Improves lymphatic flow

The suction has an effect deep into the tissue and aids the release of stored toxins from the muscles and intramuscular spaces, which can then drain more effectively into the lymph vessel system.

3, Stimulates healthy lung function

Stimulates blood circulation to and from the lungs and releases muscle tension in the chest wall. This helps the lungs to function properly to ease coughing and resolve phlegm congestion.

4, Promotes whole-body relaxation

As with regular massage, cupping can promote the parasympathetic response, aka the relaxation response.

In addition to thousands of years of continual practice, there are several research papers that confirm the effectiveness of cupping. In a modern context, clinical efficacy can also be established by the resolution of the patient’s complaint and removal of the cause of the symptoms. What better way to ascertain this than to ask the patient.

Here are just a couple of comments from my patients:

“Cupping feels like the most intense deep tissue massage. It provides an immense tension relief to all of the tight muscles in my back and shoulders. As a tangential benefit, cupping also cleared up my blocked Eustachian tube that numerous doctors and specialists were unable to treat.”

“Unlike any traditional prescription or over-the-counter medication I had tried — and, trust me, I tried many — the cupping instantly alleviated the pain and made the golf ball-sized knots disappear on the first try.”

It sounds so wonderful and simple right? Well, yes and no. Anyone can make suction in a cup and stick it on your skin, but in the hands of a person who is not properly and professionally educated about the human body and the application of these cups, there is an increased chance of creating an injury to structures or functions within the body. I strongly recommend seeing a licensed and credentialled acupuncturist for cupping, as they are properly educated in its application.

• Marshall DeCouto, MSA, LAc is a US-educated, licensed and credentialled acupuncturist and Asian medicine practitioner. He obtained a Master of Science degree in acupuncture and a Bachelor of Science in natural health sciences