Do you ever feel sore and heavy legged days after working out? Does that sluggish feeling limit your training or performance? Kiné Pro Sport has a service that can help you! Cupping therapy is an ancient practice of Chinese medicine used by manual therapists to complement their treatments. Popularity for this practice increased when many noticed Michael Phelps at the Olympics with the bruises resulting from this type of treatment. Though it was deemed at that time it was deemed a service used for high-level athletes, we are happy to show you that cupping therapy can be an effective method to offer relief of body aches and pains, muscle tension, and fatigue for all types of athletes!
It is normal to bruise as a result of the suction cup therapy process. This depends on the placement, size, kind of cups and length of time that the suction cup is applied. This is calculated to address the individual’s injury, state of inflammation and reaction of their body. The bruise may appear on different colors and remain present on a different time scale. It is therefore important to note your reactions and talk to your treating therapist, who will interpret your body’s reaction.
The suction cups come in different materials for different purposes. Some of them can be placed on the treatment area and are kept there, while the client remains relaxed and enjoying other aspects of the treatment or while they move through certain specific motions to activate and drain the muscle properly. Other types of suction cups can be held still or can be moved while the suction is applied to move through an entire part of the body. In addition to activating blood flow to a larger area, the fascias become looser, which promotes more generalized myofascial drainage and release rather than a more localized approach.
Suction cups can also come in various sizes. This is to ensure that every area in the body can be targeted and to adjust to each individual’s injury threshold. For example, in the ankle, where there are lots of turns and bony structures, a small cup could be very useful to maneuver the area whereas when treating the quadriceps or the hamstrings (thigh muscles) a large cup could be used to cover more surface area. They can also be used to remove trigger points – a point in a muscle where an adhesion has formed, creating hypersensitivity at that particular spot or somewhere else in the body, in a referred pattern – targeted with the use of a smaller cup. These can result from overuse, an injury, a bruise, posture, and so on.
Some of the major benefits of cupping therapy include increasing blood flow which helps with tissue healing, improving lymphatic drainage to help eliminate swelling and toxins trapped in your muscles, and decreasing tension in a muscle to reduce tension, spasm, and pain. Cupping therapy can be beneficial in both acute and chronic injury treatments, in conjunction with other treatment modalities to optimize the desired effects of the treatment!
For those who are interested in learning more about cupping therapy or who would like to try this service, please reach out to us as we will gladly help you!