TRIED & TESTED:
This ancient treatment is meant to ease tense muscles, reduce cellulite and detox your body – but does it really work?
Our beauty ed puts acu-cupping to the test
For as long as I can remember, I’ve carried tension in my back and shoulders, so much so that I cringe at the thought of a heavy-handed massage. On the rare occasion that I do go for a massage, I request light pressure. I’m also no stranger to tension headaches – which is what leads me to cupping.
It’s believed that the Egyptians invented cupping therapy, and it’s used as part of various holistic treatments in Asia. A glass or silicone cup creates a vacuum over the skin, drawing it up into the cup. Cups can be placed all over the body, including the legs, shoulders and back.
The treatment is meant to ease back and shoulder pain (yes, please) and I’d heard that it had many other benefits too: reducing cellulite, relieving anxiety and boosting circulation. I was intrigued, a little nervous and, of course, excited to see if it would work.
He does ‘acu-cupping’, which combines dry needling (strategically placed acupuncture needles) with sliding dry cupping – the cups are moved around without breaking contact with the skin.
‘The rubber applicator sucks out the oxygen and creates negative pressure within the cup (the inverse of a massage), drawing blood to the area,’ the doc explained. ‘You get different degrees of suction when you release the plastic valve. I work in four stages: 25% (for those who are very sensitive), 50%, 75% and 100%. At 100%, you’ll notice the skin getting red inside the cup; this is because the cup doesn’t allow blood to circulate out of that area. The blood vessels are expanding and dilating, and a little bit of blood is being lost in the area, so you’ll get a bit of marbling of the skin post-treatment. At the same time, because it’s working so deep within that tissue, it’s activating the lymphatic system which results in toxin release. Side effects are nausea, fatigue and mild post-treatment headaches and soreness.’
Five silicone cups were placed on my back, shoulders and glutes, as well as three dry needles. The suction felt unusual at first but I got used to it. I could feel my back get warmer as the blood rushed to the surface. Eventually, all the cups were taken to 100% – the highest suction pressure. (I was quite chuffed as I didn’t think I’d be able to handle it!)
During dry needling, a thin needle is inserted deep into the muscle, which causes it to contract, then relax. Dr Camitsis alerted me before inserting each needle, and when it hit the correct spot in the muscle, my whole body twitched. ‘Dry needling isn’t a favourite for my patients.’
The cups and needles were left in for five minutes, which doesn’t seem like a lot of time, but it made a huge difference. Everyone is different – cups are left on for as long as 20 minutes for some patients. Once everything was removed, the doc realigned my neck, spine and hips and stretched me out.