I have been doing Bowen Therapy in my practice for almost 8 years now. I love it. I will always use it in some way or another. I find there is great value in the more gentle types of bodywork. With that said, I regularly have clients that need a heavier handed approach in order to release a trigger point or a knot in a muscle. However, that can come with pain and discomfort for me in my hands and especially my thumbs, and for the client, it can be painful and bruise the muscle tissue.
Enter my intrigue with cupping....
You have likely seen athletes with the cupping "kiss" or "hickey".
There is a fine line between using cupping as a bodywork technique and Traditional Chinese Medicine {TCM}. When a cup is placed on the body over a muscle, knot, trigger point, or injury site IN MY WORLD...it should not stay there for more than 2-3 minutes. If it does, that is more of a TCM treatment {which I am not trained in}. I really don't want to make marks, but sometimes it happens.
What I have been doing is to use the cupping as a myofascial release technique. So the cup goes on and is moved around in order to lift the skin and gently pull on the connective tissue {fascia} in order to release it. The beauty of this is that it not only releases the tight fascia, but it has a ton of other benefits that I will let you in on and write more about later. But here is just a preview....
Lymphatic Drainage. Release Scars. Reduce Inflammation. Prepare and Recover from Surgeries. Reduce Solid Bloat. Increase Circulation.
I have gone back and forth on whether or not I should add this to my practice, and since I have started using it with a few clients, I have witnessed an almost immediate relief of pain, increase range of motion, calming to the nervous system, and break up of adhesions from scar tissue.
I am quite impressed with Cupping. I think you will be too!