Caleb here is having, he just recently had some pain in his arm and is not sure what's going on?

What we're going to do right now since it's an acute injury is we're going to help with decreasing the inflammation. 

So what I'm going to do first is elevate the limb here so I'm going to put it like this and then just relax your arm here.

Good, now... So first I'm going to put some of this oil, and cream on here just going to do a lighter coat here now. How's this feel? Okay? It's mainly on the inside, like right here, okay... top, right there.

Got it, okay. Okay, so with his arm elevated like this, the muscles will be on slack, which means that it's relaxed. There are a couple different techniques using this cup. So I'm going to squeeze it first and then press it to get the pressure and then I'm just gonna slide back and forth. This is to work on getting that inflammation to calm down.

So what it's doing is putting pressure on the skin and it's getting the fluid as you can see the skin pops up here in the cup. It is helping remove that inflammation in the area. There's another technique where you do some pumps. So I pump on and then I pump off, pump on, and pump off.

So what this is doing is it's using your venous system, which is your veins, which is to get the blood flowing. The venous system takes all the blood and inflammation and starts pumping it back towards your heart. Basically decreasing that pooling of blood which is swelling and inflammation... good... good...

Does it hurt Caleb? A little bit... but it looks good and feels good... So this treatment takes between two and five minutes and there shouldn't be any bruising. You won't have any of those cupping marks that you might have seen during the Olympics like on Michael Phelps or the other swimmers when the session is over.

When the treatment's over you do what's called aftercare. So you do some rubbing to help clear out the blood and the inflammation and get all those histamines out. Now Caleb, go ahead and sit up here for me.

You're going to do just wrist movements here so also getting those muscles to help get those veins pumping all the blood out of the affected area

Go ahead and do 5 - 10 reps...

Call 512-215-4227 to book a cupping therapy session.

Read more about Cupping.

What is Cupping? 

Cupping is the use of these cups that can be made about of different materials. So, there’s rubber, there’s plastic and there’s also glass. And, so what they are utilized for is to help with restrictions in your tissues.

It can work on your fascial which tissues that runs in between structures such as your muscles. It can help lengthen your muscles and it can also help with bringing blood flow to the area. So, things that it’s good for treating.

If you have some places that is inflamed or swollen, or you have what’s called lymphedema. Cupping can be good to help decrease that inflammation, that swelling, that lymphedema in that limb.

What’s it’s also good for is promoting healing process. 

If you have tissues that is slowly healing, you can… It’ll bring blood to the area. Now, having blood come to the area is important because one, it brings oxygen and nutrients but then, it also helps clear out all the debris, all the histamines that kind a caused chronic inflammation.

It can be good for things that are like slow healing. But it’s also… It can also work mechanically in tissues. So that means that it can change the length of the fascia, it can change…

It can help with stiffness in tissues and it can also help with tightness and stiffness and lengthening shorten muscles. So, it can be good for… Let’s say, a lot of people have really tight calves or really tight hamstrings. So, you can use this set-up with lengthening them.

But it also can do a neuro… But it has a neurological component too. So, people that have chronic pain, it can help desensitize your system to that pain.

What it does is you can start putting the cups in an area that’s not painful and really get your body used to feeling different sensations. Because with a lot of people with over high levels of chronic pain, their nervous system are really heightened.

What this does is to kind a helps calm your nervous system down.

But it can also work on… It can also with people that have just kind a chronic low-level pain. Like, a lot of low back pain. So, you can provide a kind a stimulus that’s painful and that will help bring your naturally occurring opioids and enkephalins to the system to help relieved that pain.

So, these are just some of the reasons to use cupping and it can be a good add on treatment to the things that you’re already doing in PT.

Call 512.215.4227 to get started with our physical therapist at CORE Therapy & Pilates in Westlake Hills / Austin, Texas.

Watch this video to see a 13-year-old BMX'er and baseball player improve his hamstring flexibility in about 5 minutes with cupping therapy. 

Dr. Andy Tseng, Physical & Occupational Therapist, Pilates & Gyrotonic Instructor, demonstrates a quick pre-test, a quick myofascial cupping therapy session, and a re-test. 

"Oh dang" and "wow" were the comments from the young athlete after his hamstring flexibility improved significantly. 

Are you looking to improve flexibility?

Increase blood flow?

Decrease swelling?

Promote healing?

Call 512.215.4227 to get started with our physical therapist at CORE Therapy & Pilates in Westlake Hills / Austin, Texas.

What is cupping?

And then when would you not use cupping?

Cupping is a soft tissue technique that is intended to lift up the soft tissue, fascia, and muscle underneath the cup in order to create circulation under the cup. It helps to improve circulation but also if the suction is big enough it can lengthen the tissue underneath.

It helps to:

If the blood flow is increased under the area the blood usually contains a lot of healing agents. Cupping will speed up the healing process of the involved tissue.

There are conditions that I would not use cupping with. If the client is:

1. Currently in their first trimester of pregnancy
2. Have cancer going on
3. Back pain that's from a disc herniation
4. Open wound
5. Infection
6. Recent fragile scar

However, if the patient's wound or scar is stabilized over time I might actually use cutting to facilitate some scar mobility but then definitely no the acute phase of the wound.

In general cupping is a very safe procedure because the protocol is very clearly monitored.

A common myth is it will always create a lot of bruises. This is not true because there are very light techniques and then if the proper after care is done to promote the circulation usually it won't create as much of a bruising like we commonly see on TV.

Call 512.215.4227 to learn more about how you can sign up for a cupping session with one of our Doctors of Physical Therapy.