Cupping (拔罐): A type of Chinese massage, cupping consists of placing several glass “cups” (open spheres) on the body. A match is lit and placed inside the cup and then removed before placing the cup against the skin. As the air in the cup is heated, it expands, and after placing in the skin, cools down, creating a lower pressure inside the cup that allows the cup to stick to the skin via suction. When combined with massage oil, the cups can be slid around the back, offering what some practitioners think of as a reverse-pressure massage.
The application of the suction cups to cure daily pathologies is of great accuracy. It brings fast and spectacular results in many various situations, the articular pat hology being one of them. The function of the technique is made of two basic applications:
- Cold suction cups: one carries out the vacuum in the suction cup pneumatic system.
- Hot suction cups: one carries out the vacuum by using ignited cotton. This is the oldest but the most effective method.
