What is this crazy "cupping" thing, anyway?

Unless you are a patient or practitioner of Chinese medicine, chances are, your knowledge of cupping doesn't extend far beyond, "that's the thing that made those weird bruises on that one celebrity's back." Now, why the heck would anyone want to engage in an activity that leaves them sporting bruises that make them look like they lost a fight with a sea-monster?

If you don't know anything about cupping, I can understand why you would think it's yet another new-age craze. However, cupping is as old as acupuncture and even less esoteric. It is, quite simply, a massage technique. Here are some of your frequently-asked cupping questions, answered. 

• What does it do? In short, it makes you feel good. Cupping uses suction rather than pressure to relax the soft tissue, releasing nerves and deeper connective tissue. In everyday terms, it "breaks up knots," or areas of tension, the same way a deep-tissue massage would. It allows the practitioner (me) to target very specific areas of tension and discomfort. It also increases circulation of blood and lymph to the area, which encourages healing.

• Why the bruises? Cupping creates a tight suction, and although I hate to use the analogy, there's really no better way to say it - it's like hickey. Small blood vessels on the surface may burst from the pressure created by the cup, but this is harmless and the marks go away in a week or so. In my own observation, people who have a lot of pain and stiffness in an area tend to get darker bruises than those with milder pain, but there's not really a great scientific explanation for why that's so. I've seen pictures online of people covered in bruises, and in my own practice I have never, ever performed a cupping session that has incorporated more than six cups at once. Usually, the more extreme methods of cupping are used in Asia.

• How do you do it? I practice traditional glass cupping (aka, fire or "flash" cupping) because I frankly haven't been able to find a better substitute. This is the ancient method and, although it requires a certain amount of finesse, newer products with a pump just don't seem to work as well. I start by pinching an alcohol swab between a pair of tweezers, and then I light it on fire. I quickly swirl the flaming swab around inside the cup to consume all the oxygen, creating suction. Then, I gently but swiftly apply the cup to the area I want to treat. The cup shouldn't be hot - the fire is for creating the seal only, and not for applying heat. Then, I typically move the cup along the skin to massage a larger area, but sometimes I leave the cup in place, or apply more cups.

• What does it feel like? Cupping doesn't hurt - I think massage hurts more! The tight seal can feel a bit like having someone push their fist into your muscle, rather than a pulling or sucking sensation. It feels like pressure. I've never had a patient complain that cupping is uncomfortable, but if the seal is too strong, I can adjust the suction easily to a person's preference.

• Can I try it? You most certainly can! Typically, I use cupping as an adjunct therapy and not as a substitute for needles. However, if you mention specifically that you'd like to incorporate cupping into your treatment in addition to acupuncture or as part of a needle-free treatment, I can certainly do that. It works best for people that have back pain or tension. Applying cups to bony places (or people!) can be more difficult.

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The bruising shown here is more typical of what a to expect after a treatment.

13 Ghosts : My own experience with acupuncture and anxiety

There are 13 special acupuncture points indicated for treating mental and mood disorders, known as the 13 Ghost Points. Although I know it's probably not lending a lot of credence to our profession to refer to them in this way, I feel like I can relate to the name. When you're suffering from a disease like depression, you can certainly start to feel like a ghost of yourself, that something has taken hold of you that's very difficult to free yourself from.

"Can acupuncture help me with my mood?" This is a question I hear all the time, and as an acupuncturist specializing in mental wellness, my answer is an emphatic "yes!" I can say this because I have read the studies. I have witnessed the changes in my own patients. But most importantly, I have experienced them firsthand.

I've struggled with anxiety all my life. I come from a long, storied history of "nervous nellies" and "worry worts," and, even as a child, I remember working myself up into an anxious frenzy and losing sleep about homework assignments the same way my parents undoubtedly worried about paying bills and meeting deadlines at work (I like to joke that I was the only first-grader with crow's feet). As I approached adulthood, I tried my best to "change my attitude," laboring under the assumption that my constant anxiety was a personality flaw instead of a physical problem. I hated the way it made me irritable and less able to be present in my own life. Even though I knew that things were good, I felt a nameless apprehension. In a way, my anxiety was like a ghost always hiding around the next corner, impossible to see, but a creepy presence that was always felt, no matter how often people reminded me nothing was wrong.

One of the advantages of being an acupuncture student is being able to receive treatments for free. I found that acupuncture left me feeling calmer and more centered in a way that meditation never could. And, I found that acupuncture drew me back into my body, so to speak. I feel like other people with anxiety can probably relate - you feel so caught up in your own head that you forget you have any connection to the physical world at all. Your anxiety is so consuming it can seem like it's all you are.

But perhaps, more profound than the relief I received from the treatments were the lessons that I learned about the the union of mind and body. Western medicine has tended to overlook this connection, whereas Chinese medicine sees the body and mind as more than just connected - they are one and the same. You really can't be physically well and mentally ill, simultaneously. Mental illness is often a sign that something in the body is misaligned, and conversely, many illnesses of the body are linked to our mental states. As we come to better understand the effect that stress can have on our body from a scientific perspective, it seems like modern medicine is finally catching up to this idea.

Armed with this knowledge, I felt less embarrassed about my anxiety and started to view it as an actual physical problem with physical solutions. I made some lifestyle adjustments, took herbs and supplements, and received regular acupuncture. The change was gradual, yet profound - it was like a fog lifted off my life and I could see the world as it truly was. I knew that I had turned a corner two years ago, when I was able to remain cheerful and lighthearted even when our Minnesota winter "ran long," and we had snow falling in May. What would once have left me dispirited was somehow novel and beautiful. I was able to truly feel the way I'd always wanted to - not just looking, but living on the bright side of life.

Interested in learning more about how you can improve your mood with acupuncture? Sign up for my e-newsletter and get my free eBook, "From Burnout to Balance in 5 Simple Steps."