Orlando Acupuncturist

I never underestimate the reaction of my patients who leave the office after cupping therapy. The ancient technique involves creating a vacuum to areas of injury, tension, and/or pain via the application of glass cups. The suction (which is created by simply lighting a cotton ball that is saturated with 91% alcohol and placing it inside the cup before putting it on the skin) leaves you with large hickeys over the area that was treated. These hickeys have developed nicknames such as ‘cup kisses,’ ‘crop circles,’ ‘octopus attack,’ ‘raquetball court beating,’ and many others (I’d love to hear your nickname in a reply).

The marks can serve as an icebreaker at a party or at the grocery store for as long as 1 – 7 days, and range in color from rose to eggplant depending on the severity of the pain and how old the injury might be. Personally, I feel accomplished when someone leaves the office with deep dark marks because I know we released a lot of old blood and toxins, not to mention emotional garbage that we store in our tissues. In addition, I love to cup patients who are coughing up phlegm (aka ‘lung butter’) all the colors of the rainbow. It is amazing how quickly the response is. It does not come without a day or two of worsening symptoms (sometimes), but that stuff has got to come out and there’s only one exit. It’s great for kids who have asthma too!

One patient reported: “Hours after my husband saw the marks, he sat me down and with a disturbed look on his face, began to tell me what he saw on my back. You see, I have been loosing quite a bit of weight lately, and my husband thought I had a serious disease.”