Yin and Yang Cupping

Course Content

Cupping is also known as negative pressure massage. This is a great descriptor, as we can see how when the cup is applied to the skin it lifts the tissue into the cup. In doing so, it creates space within the tissues thereby enabling more movement of blood and lymph in the local area.

Recent scientific studies have shown some interesting results from cupping.

The soft tissue that is enclosed by the cup, and at the periphery are in tension, while the tissue under the rim of the cup are in compression
Tensile stresses at a bulbous region at the centre of the cup tend to be greater.
This region extends to the muscle layer, and is 0.4 times diameter of the area that the cup has been applied.
The entire thickness of the skin under the cup is similarly stressed.
The tensile stresses are a maximum in a very small area adjacent to, and just inside the rim of the cup.
The region directly under the rim of the cup is in compression due to the indentation of the soft tissue by the cup.
Cupping is capable of drawing as deeply as 65mm below the skins surface to stimulate the recirculation of fresh blood and improve local circulation.

(Tham and Lee)

This well documented scientific description of cupping is a great explanation of why cupping is so effective in treating Qi and Blood Stasis. It also helps us understand why some cupping marks are only around the edge of the cups.

What is does not explain, is why some areas may have cupping marks, and others do not. This is where, as TCM practitioners, our understanding of the deeper systems helps us to diagnose and treat the body in a more profound way.

Yin and Yang Cupping

Course Content

Physiology of Cupping

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