Chinese Cupping is a form of remedial therapy that was developed thousands of years ago as part of traditional Chinese medicine.
Cupping uses round, smooth cups to create a vacuum or suction on your skin. The tissues under the cups are lifted and sucked into the cup.
What are the benefits of cupping?
The main benefits of cupping are to minimise your pain, relax your muscles, remove excess heat from your body, improve your blood circulation, stimulate lymphatic flow, reduce tension in your fascia and improve your energy. Cupping can also be used to alleviate tension and stress and assist with improving your general wellbeing.
Is cupping painful?
Cupping does not feel painful to have done. Cupping therapy will make your skin to temporarily turn red. Sometimes the cupping treatment will leave a rounded bruise on your skin. This is not permanent and is not painful.
When the cups are placed on your skin you may feel a tightness of your soft tissues under the cup. Most people find this relaxing and quite soothing. Cupping Treatment may involve moving the cups or they can be left in one place.
Cupping treatment
Cupping therapy can be used on many areas of your body including your shoulders, back, hips, buttocks, legs and abdomen.
How does cupping work?
The suction action of the cups facilitates movement of your soft tissues. Instead of pushing downwards the soft tissues are pulled upwards into the cups by the vacuum. Sometimes our soft tissues become tense, especially after an injury, chronic tension or stress or simply from overuse. The cupping therapy creates space between the soft tissues layers of your skin, fascia and muscles. This space allows for freedom of movement. The overall result is less pain to the region being treated.
To book an appointment for cupping therapy with any of our physiotherapists call our reception on 8212 4886.
Gua Sha / Scraping / Spooning Therapy
What is Gua Sha?
Gua Sha is a type of scraping or spooning of the skin and has similar origins and function to that of cupping therapy. Your Physiotherapist or Remedial massage therapist at City Physiotherapy can perform Gua Sha Therapy. We use a smooth, flat ceramic Goa Sha tool to scrape or spoon the skin. The aim is to create friction to release your soft tissues.
What is Gua Sha therapy used for?
Gua Sha therapy is particularly beneficial to treat large areas of pain like your back, stiffness due to adhesions in your fascia, to promote blood flow and improve your overall wellness.
How does Gua Sha work?
Traditional Chinese Medicine believes muscle soreness and injuries are areas of restriction in blood flow and energy, which they call Qi. Whether you believe in this or not we know that we get pain relief from massaging an injury or a tight sore muscle and that improving blood flow can decrease your pain.
Sha means the redness that arises on your skin from rubbing the Gua Sha tool over the affected area.
When you experience a muscle spasm or an injury your blood flow in this area is diminished. With decreased blood flow your body builds up lactic and uric acid. These acids can become trapped underneath the skin or inside a tight muscle. The Gua Sha treatment can help to remove these waste products by improving your blood flow.
Does Gua Sha treatment hurt?
No, Gua Sha treatment does not have to be painful. Your therapist can control how much pressure is applied with the Goa Sha treatment tool. You will have redness of your skin where the treatment is applied. Sometimes, small areas of broken blood vessels similar to the bruising that cupping leaves on your skin can also occur. You will feel the tension release in your muscles and fascia and a marked decrease in pain.
