Cupping Therapy

Cupping is thousands of years old, with roots in Chinese, Egyptian and Middle Eastern medicine. Your practitioner places cups — plastic, glass or occasionally heated — against the skin to create suction, drawing blood flow into the area beneath.

There are a few variations: stationary cupping for a set period, moving cupping that glides the cups across the skin to work a larger area, and lighter flash cupping that cycles cups on and off quickly to stimulate circulation without leaving marks.

Cups are placed on the treatment area and left in place for several minutes, or moved slowly across the skin depending on the technique. It's normal to see temporary circular marks afterward, similar to a bruise — they usually fade within a few days and aren't painful.