Perhaps it’s all related to age but perhaps it’s just related to wear and tear but on some days pains and aches get the better of us and we feel like our bodies have gone past their expiry dates. We feel worse for wear and this is especially true for women going through hormone related issues such and menopause or PMS. Our backs can’t straighten, our body feels and looks like a dead carcass (bloated and grey) and just about every muscle in our body feels like it’s been frozen. It sounds horrible and it feels even worse, so much so that we have to turn to medication – strong pain killers or muscle relaxants just to enable us to roll our lumpy bodies out of bed.
If it were a one time affair, that probably be fine…but imagine if the scenario was a reoccurring one – monthly too! I really couldn’t bear the thought of popping pain numbing pills ever so frequent. It is obvious side effects would take their toll and soon enough I’d have more problems to add to my list. And I guess many people agree with me when it’s become quite clear how so many are now turning to alternative therapy for help. Of course if your condition is severe then it wouldn’t be advisable but if it’s something normal and not complicated then why not consider the aged old, time tested true traditional Chinese treatment of cupping!
Yes cupping, the really cool looking treatment (made famous again by certain celebrities) that will leave purple welts on your back!
Cupping looks simple enough but honestly is quite tricky to perform so it’s best you leave that to the experts because it isn’t just about applying a suction cup to your back. It’s about applying the right amount o vacuum to the correct spot for the correct amount of time. Traditionally animal horns were used but that soon became bamboo cups and now we have glass ones. You can also find modern glass cups with Acu Point Biomagnetic additions but I’d rather stick with the original.
As far as I can remember, vacuum in those cups are created when a cotton ball soaked in 90% alcohol is burnt in the cup (cup faces down) and quickly removed then applied (the cup) on the skin. It works by drawing toxins/stagnantation out from the skin where the vacuum is applied. Hence the importance of where the cup is placed- specific acupunctural points which only an expert practitioner will be all too familiar with.
If you do it yourself or have someone who isn’t well experienced do it, you might end up with burns and other complications such as those related to the nerves, muscle or blood flow.
Traditional practices are almost always eco-friendly and effective, yet much like nature, they are being threatened with extinction from modernization. These days to be able to find a cupping expert who is truly trained with the art is really hard as the best skills have probably died out with those who had them – a lost that we have no right to weep over now…
