Friday, March 12, 2010

Cupping, Traditional Chinese medicine



I had cupping done to my upper back, neck and lower back yesterday. At one of my routine Chinese Massage sessions with my Chinese doctor for my sore neck and for relaxation, I saw my doctor Annie Cui's set of cupping therapy cups.

I had always been interested in cupping since my great grand mother performed cupping on my Dad.

To the Western World, it was Gwyneth Paltrow who created an interest in this ancient Chinese medicine form. She turned up for a New York film premiere in a low cut top revealing a back covered in large circular marks. It gave cupping a boost in awareness

I was about ten years old when Grand Grand Mum and Grand ma did cupping on Dad. They used a coin as a base, twisted some strips of newpaper, placed it on Dad,s body and lit it on fire. Next they inverted a marmite bottle over fire. When the fire went out, it created a partial vacuum and this is supposed to draw out stagnanted Qi from your body. The result meant that you have free flow of your blood and you are healed of ailments.

Dr Cui has a modern set of cups, some big, some small so they fit over different parts of your body. She used a pump similar to an icing pump, and this sucks the air out. People look on would see the skin and flesh sucked up and gradually, you get a red welt.

How did I feel? I felt my tissue being sucked up, and after ten minutes, it felt hot like I had stuck on those Chinese medicated plaster, or I had applied some strong tiger balm. This morning, I felt a bit sore, but then, I always feel a bit sore after my normal massage session.

So I feel released from my stress? Ask Gwyneth Paltrow, she seems to believe in it. A word of caution, Chinese medicine is a slow process. Don't expect an over night cure.

http://www.healingartofmassage.com/type-of-massage-treatments/cupping-therapy
http://annkschin.blogspot.com/2008/11/four-generations.html In this post, I posted a photo of my Great Grand Mother and Grand mother in their traditional Sam Foo clothes. They very very good in their self trained treatment. people came from far and near to seek their help.


10 comments:

dianasfaria.com said...

this is fascinating. My son takes traditional Chinese herbs for his allergies & they help a great deal.
I think I would like to try this cupping too. How long does it take for the marks to go away?

SJB aka SUELYN J-B. said...

Interesting..

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

The Doctor said 2 0r 3 days. I will let you know, there is another form of Chinese treatment called Qua Sa which is using a stone blade to scrap you. It takes about 3 or 4 days.

My mum did a pinching type called NAB SA. When I feel like a cold coming down, I pinch the bridge of my nose, and I get a red mark. Again it takes 3 or 4 days.

Reader Wil said...

Hi Ann, I know that Chinese knowledge of medical treatment is very old and good! I had never heard of cupping. Does it hurt?
Thanks for this information.
Thank you for your visit. you asked about the surface the duck was sitting on. Well that was a bookshelf. It was polished and dark. It was not mine!

Ah Ngao said...

when i was a teenager,my mum repeatly pinch the middle of my neck when i got giddiness from exhaustion.what sa is that?

Barry said...

Fascinating, Ann. I'm sure I have a lot of stagnant Qi that could do with being cleaned out.

Dave said...

I found this interesting too Ann. - Dave

Ruth said...

Those are quite the welts. We use electical modalities in physiotherapy which may cause similar effects to the tissues. They may have been derived from this ancient treatment.

J.C. said...

Whenever I am hit by flu, it is cupping that I turned to for its healing power. It works fast and effectively on me!

Chinese Medicine Boston said...

Thanks to give me these type of information