Synergy Sport Therapy is beyond excited to share what we have learned!

This past Friday I was out of the clinic participating in a new course for continuing education.
The course I participated in was a Cupping Massage course for manual therapists. It was an excellent course that I believe will bring great benefits to many of my current and future clients.

Cupping Massage, or Cupping, is based on the ancient Chinese art called horn therapy because of the use of animal horns to create suction. In modern times, we now use plastic, glass and silicone cups along with suction to affect deeper tissue, remove fascial restrictions and increase range of motion.
Cupping works by creating a vacuum of pressure, drawing up skin and fascia into the cup. This negative pressure causes new blood to rush to the tissues below removing stagnation, and sometimes ecchymosis, or a cupping mark.

A cupping mark is not a bruise and is referred to as ecchymosis. Ecchymosis is not painful, and is thought to be caused by the release of dead static blood, lymph, cellular debris and pathogens. These marks can last up to a week and can range from light red to deeper purple.

Cupping has a wide range of benefits to its users. As the suction creates a negative pressure and increases new blood flow it can have effects on soft tissues such as fascia, muscles, adhesions and scars as well as joints. It can also have effects on the digestive system, lungs and nervous system.
During the course, we effectively cupped the majority of the body, and I must say I have been feeling great since. I tend to have over active lats and upper fibers of my traps along with very dense and restricted fascial trains. Working on these areas with traditional massage therapy is often tedious and quite painful. I was happy to learn that cupping the length of my lats was not painful, and yielded great results. I had a quick reaction to the cups, and only had to leave them in place for a few minutes. The results were ideal. It left me with greater range of motion, less restriction and a lovely back covered in polk-a-dots. Two-and-a-half days later, I am still feeling the effects and have some mild ecchymosis remaining.

We are very excited to be offering cupping to our clients in Guelph.

If you are interested in learning more, have questions or would like to try it out yourself, contact us.

Kristina@SynergySportTherapy.com

519.803.2335

-KM

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