If an Olympic gold medalist believes in cupping therapy, it might work for you too! Here are 5 health benefits of cupping therapy that can help you stay physically fit and melt away your anxiety.
1. Cupping Increases Circulation
Our bodies need oxygen to keep all the parts working and to help us heal. When we breathe, oxygen enters our lungs. From our lungs, our blood carries oxygen to every aspect of our body.
Sometimes, our blood vessels can get clogged, or clots begin to form. When there’s a build-up, our blood pressure can go up, and our health can get worse.
Cupping is when a cup is placed on the surface of the skin. Traditionally, therapists heat the cup on the inside to suck out the air.
The vacuum creates a suction when the cup is placed mouth-down on the skin. However, modern cupping therapists already use rubber rims and technology to create this effect.
How does cupping work? When the suction pulls up the skin, the pressure on our blood vessels is removed. When you take a weight off a running hose, the water automatically flows better.
With cupping, our blood circulates easier around our body to stay healthy and heal faster. Better circulation always means better health in the long run.
2. Cupping Encourages Tissues to Release Toxins
Our bodies have many building blocks, from the smallest to the biggest. (Fun fact: our skin is the largest organ of our body!) One of the smaller building blocks is called the tissue. Tissues make up many parts of our bodies, including organs.
However, since the tissues are everywhere, they also serve as our body’s shock absorbers. They pick up toxins and other unhealthy items moving through our bodies. When our body senses toxins in our tissues, it tries to isolate them in the tissues and then force them out. That’s how we get boils, pimples, and cysts, and other lumps.
How does cupping help? Cupping helps prevent toxin build-up. The suction causes the tissues to separate slightly, just enough so the toxins are released. Instead of building up in the tissues, toxins are naturally passed through the body.
3. Cupping Reduces Anxiety
Anxiety is referred to as a “physiological state,” which means it exists in our bodies as a medical condition. When we are anxious, our body shows it. Toxins build up in our tissues, tension makes our muscles contract and spasm, and our blood vessels constrict as the body stays on edge.
When we are highly anxious, we have a hard time sleeping and eating. It can trap us in a cycle of worry and anxiety.
How does cupping help with anxiety? Cupping increases our circulation, allowing our bodies to heal faster. It also helps our muscles relax by relieving the tension.
Our tissues release toxins, helping us feel better. Sometimes that’s all we need to get a good night’s sleep or relax for a whole day. When our minds reset, we can break the cycle of anxiety and start to get better.
If you’re having a bad day, you can try out a session of cupping therapy before anxiety even starts to build up.
4. Cupping Can Reduce Stretch Marks and Scars
When our skin is stretched out beyond what is healthy, we can get stretch marks. Stretch marks mean we don’t have enough collagen (what makes our skin look full and healthy) or elastin (what helps our skin recover from strain or stretching).
How does cupping work? It improves the circulation of blood in our skin. More oxygen can reach our skin, and the stretch marks fade as our skin starts to heal.
What about scars? Scars happen when our body heals an area by covering it with tissue fiber. The tissue can sometimes be thick and solid ridges or bumps.
Sometimes our bodies replace the scar tissue with natural tissue, and it heals completely. But sometimes, scars take longer or don’t heal at all.
When we use cupping around scar tissue, it loosens the solidness of the mass. The scar becomes less lumpy, and the increased blood flow helps it heal. Cupping therapy is an excellent way to heal your skin, especially since stretch marks and scars can come from anything, including forgetting to double-check your bra size.
5. Cupping Can Improve Varicose Veins and Spider Veins
If you’re struggling with varicose and spider veins, cupping therapy might help! Varicose veins and spider veins are swollen blood vessels that twist under the skin.
They are sometimes a sign of high blood pressure or bad blood circulation. Cupping therapy can help with blood circulation. As the pressure on the veins eases up, the treatment can help with the healing.
Final Say
So there you have it—the top 5 health benefits of cupping. It’s been around for centuries, and it’s a natural way to keep you healthy and relieve anxiety. Consider trying it, as It just might work for you!