If you’ve ever seen someone at your gym walking around with huge, perfectly round bruises on their back and wondered what happened to them, you should see the other guy—as in, you should see a licensed massage therapist!
LMT’s do a form of therapy called cupping. Cupping is a therapeutic technique that involves multiple cups that can be made of different materials such as glass, plastic, or silicone. The therapist uses the cups to create a vacuum that draws blood to that area of the skin. This leads to the circles of bruising that you may have seen around Buffalo.
It’s believed that the force of the suction draws enough blood to the area that smaller capillaries expand and can burst beneath the surface of the skin. More blood will be sent to the area to repair and stimulate healing at a cellular level and also release toxins. This technique also loosens the muscle tissue in the area, increases lymph flow, and relaxes the nervous system. Cupping is a deep-tissue therapy that helps with scar tissue, knots, muscle tension, and swelling. Additional benefits of cupping include increased blood flow to the area, pain relief, increased inflammation and healing, and relaxation.
Cupping can be a great recovery method for athletes as well as a relief for those with chronic pain. It can be done on the back, arms, legs, and other areas. Athletes with sore muscles need to promote tissue healing from the increased load and stress that has been placed on their bodies. Getting more blood flow to the area is a great way to do that and speed up the process. Likewise, cupping can ease the symptoms of chronic pain issues such as arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, low back pain, and migraines. The powerful effect of increased blood flow and inflammation is one of the reasons that cupping has been practiced for hundreds of years.
Recently, one of our own chiropractors Dr. Sarah Novotny began offering her cupping services for one to two areas of the body. This is a quicker appointment for focused areas versus massage therapy which is more of a whole-body experience in conjunction with massage and relaxation.
Come see your local Buffalo massage therapists and chiropractors to give cupping a try and get those red circles on your back too!
Bethany Wolcott
D’Youville Chiropractic ‘26
