Reddish saucer-like landing pads across the back of someone sitting in front of you during a fitness class may be the most that you know about cupping. For others, they are scheduled in for their cupping sessions like clockwork and would not miss this ancient turned contemporary healing modality. Cupping therapy has existed, like sauna bathing, across cultures and millenia, and has taken a seat at the mainstream table of many medical practices. Cupping therapy can be found in acupuncture centers, in the offices of physical and massage therapists, as well as other facilities devoted to the healing arts. In fact, some people even use cupping for cosmetic purposes on the face in aesthetician and dermatology clinics.
Cupping therapy is here to stay, and as a result it is important for its users to understand what activities can complement this process and which ones to avoid. Sauna bathing is something that falls somewhere in the middle. Sauna use can both complement cupping therapy, but if used at the wrong time may actually inhibit some of the benefits of cupping therapy as well as irritate the area of the body affected by a cupping session.
Find out exactly what cupping therapy is, in real medical and scientific terms, and what health benefits this therapy purports to have. Furthermore, find out how sauna bathing can complement your cupping sessions, as well as how saunas may hinder them. Finally, discover the exact recipe to follow to ensure that you are getting the most out of your cupping sessions and sauna use. Learn how to use both healing modalities to serve your health and wellness goals.
What is Cupping?
- Decrease Musculoskeletal Pain
- Pain Management
- Minimize Tension Headaches & Migraines
- A Treatment for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Cupping therapy (CT) is an ancient practice that uses a vacuum-like seal on the surface of the skin to affect positive changes to overall health. Unlike what many may believe, cupping as a therapeutic practice appears to have originally been used in ancient Egypt before making its way across the Mediterranean to ancient Greece, and finally to China where it continued to thrive as an essential aspect of Chinese medicine.
According to a an article published by the National Library of Medicine entitled, simply, ‘Cupping Therapy’ describes the history of cupping here.
“This therapy was practiced by the Egyptians and Macedonians around 5500 years ago, and Egyptians later introduced this method to the Greeks.Cupping therapy was documented and endorsed in diverse civilizations, including China and Rome, as well as within the collective traditions (hadiths) of the Prophet Muhammad during the initial 6 centuries of the Common Era.” (1)
Though cupping therapy has ancient roots, it is also a part of contemporary medicine. Cupping is famous for the reddish to purplish saucer like marks left on the back of its patients due to the suction technique employed during a practice. The results of the suction can sometimes leave a temporary mark on the back that generally clears up within a few days. The authors of the aforementioned publication describe cupping technique succinctly when they write this.
“Cupping therapy is a therapeutic technique that utilizes a vacuum force created beneath a small vessel applied onto the skin’s surface. This approach focuses on blood and autologous healing substances in a specific area, stimulating metabolic activity, improving immune function, and stabilizing blood biochemistry.” (1)
Cupping is categorized into 2 distinct styles. The first is wet and the second is dry cupping. If you go to a massage therapist or physical therapist, you will most likely receive a dry cupping treatment. The two styles of cupping are dissected by the authors of the aforementioned paper here.
“Cupping is typically categorized into 2 primary procedures—wet and dry cupping. In both techniques, containers made from various materials are used to create a vacuum over a specific area of the skin. However, suction is applied in a wet cupping procedure to draw small quantities of blood and extracellular fluid from the body, typically after creating minor incisions or superficial skin abrasions, often in significantly smaller amounts than conventional bloodletting practices.” (1)
Cupping therapists claim that this process can help heal many ailments, including its use as a detoxification tool. In terms of scientific data, cupping is best used as a pain management therapy. This does not mean that cupping is not successful in other treatments. It simply means that there is only scientific evidence to support cupping for pain management, and likely as this modality is studied more, the data will begin to accumulate in support of its use for other maladies.
Here is how the authors of the paper ‘Cupping Therapy’ describe its clinical uses.
“Cupping therapy has demonstrated notable advantages in addressing various forms of pain, particularly musculoskeletal pain, migraines, and tension headaches. Studies indicate that wet cupping reduces average headache severity by 66% and decreases headache days by 12.6 per month…
A German study showcased the benefits of traditional wet cupping in treating carpal tunnel syndrome. Furthermore, research based on traditional Persian medicine yielded promising results in managing B-thalassemia and other autoimmune diseases.” (1)
Very often spas and treatment centers will offer both sauna bathing and cupping in the same venue. At other times individuals will receive a cupping treatment and wonder if they can use their home or gym sauna afterward. So how can individuals safely and effectively combine sauna bathing with cupping therapy?
Is it Safe to Use a Sauna After a Cupping Session: What is the Best Protocol to Follow?
- Avoid a Sauna For a Minimum of 24 Hours After Cupping
- Sauna First, Cupping Second
- Avoid Cold Plunges for at Least 24 Hours After Cupping
After a cupping session it is quite common to experience circle shapes that turn a red and sometimes a purple color. While these markings are not necessarily painful, they can be quite sensitive. After receiving a cupping session it is best to avoid a sauna for at least a day, but most likely it is best to wait until the coloration from the cupping has dissipated, which takes about 3-5 days on average.
According to a practitioner at After Glow, an acupuncture center in New Zealand, it is best to avoid extreme temperatures within 24 hours after a cupping session. Here is what they write.
“Try to avoid extreme heat or cold like hot pools, saunas and ice baths etc. for at least 24 hours after your cupping treatment. It is also important to protect cupping marks from excessive sun exposure.” (3)
So if it is best to avoid a sauna after cupping, when is a good time to use a sauna to enhance the cupping experience?
How Can Sauna Bathing Complement Cupping as a Therapeutic Practice?
- Improve Circulation With a Sauna Pre-Cupping Session
- Relax the Nervous System Pre-Cupping
Sauna use will drastically improve circulation to the extremities of the body, meaning to the cutaneous and peripheral body parts and away from the internal organs. This improved circulation as experienced during a sauna is an excellent way to prepare the body for cupping.
According to a paper published by the National Library of Medicine entitled ‘Sauna bather’s circulation’ (4) peripheral circulation is drastically improved by sauna use.
“Cutaneous circulation increases greatly in saunas in order to prevent body heating.” (4)
Improved circulation to the muscle tissue of the body will prepare the way for the cupping suction, and ultimately render this therapy more effective.
Furthermore, sauna use can assist its users in reaching deeper states of relaxation. While the initial moments in the sauna may turn up sympathetic dominance as the aerobic system of the body is activated to enlist thermoregulation, ultimately the sauna session will end with lower blood pressure, as well as an overall sense of relaxation. (5)
Sauna bathers will experience an overall sense of wellbeing after their sauna session, including a greater sense of relaxation which will help to prime them for a more successful and anxiety free cupping therapy experience.
According to the authors of the paper ‘Sweating out stress: sauna bathing’s rising role in mental health recovery’ (5) published by the National Library of Medicine sauna bathing reduces anxiety and helps to improve overall mood stability.
“Regular sauna sessions reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, improve sleep quality, enhance cognitive function, and may lower long-term risks of neurodegenerative and psychotic disorders. The benefits stem from heat-induced physiological changes, including endorphin release, improved cerebral blood flow, and neuroprotective heat-shock protein expression.” (5)
Rendering the body into states of deep relaxation that occur only in states of parasympathetic dominance of the autonomic nervous system will enable a more successful cupping session. Instead of feeling worried or still caught up in the stresses of the day’s events, clients can come to the cupping table already relaxed and ready to receive the healing benefits of cupping.
Find out the exact recipe to follow to best prepare the body for a cupping session using a sauna.
The Sauna-Cupping Therapy to Follow at Home or in a Clinical Environment: Cupping and Sauna Recipe
Sauna and cupping can make an excellent team as complimentary therapies provided that they are used in the correct sequential order. Definitely avoid a sauna directly after a cupping session, and as long as this is followed the only question that remains is how to amplify the benefits of both therapeutic modalities.
If you are going to a spa or a center that offers both sauna and cupping make sure you are able to sauna first, shower, and then enter your cupping session as soon after as possible. If you must sauna somewhere else before entering your cupping session the same basic principals apply. Try to sauna as close to your cupping session as possible to increase circulation and to prime the autonomic nervous system.
Sauna-Cupping Recipe:
- Use either a traditional Finnish sauna or an infrared sauna
- The sauna can be kept at a temperature that is comfortable for you, but still enlists the sweating response.
- If you are using a traditional sauna then remain inside for 20 minutes, and if using an infrared sauna then remain inside for 30-40 minutes.
- Shower in tepid water (do not use cold plunge or enter an extremely cold shower.)
- Drink a glass of fluids rich in electrolytes
- Make your way to the cupping table as soon after your shower as possible
- Take your time after your cupping session before sitting up
- If possible have someone come pick you up so that you do not have to drive
- DO NOT enter a sauna or cold plunge for 3-5 days following your cupping session
Cupping therapy and sauna bathing can go hand in hand, just make sure that you sauna first and do your cupping after. Both modalities do require excellent levels of hydration, so please be mindful to hydrate in the days and hours leading up to your sessions.
Both sauna use and cupping therapy are not for everyone, please consult with your doctor before engaging in either practice.
Citations:
- Cupping Therapy: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538253/
- The medical perspective of cupping therapy: Effects and mechanisms of action: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6435947/
- Cupping Aftercare: Do’s and Dont’s After Cupping: https://www.afterglowacupuncture.com/blog/tips-cupping-session-aftercare
- Sauna bather’s circulation: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3218896/
- Sweating out stress: sauna bathing’s rising role in mental health recovery: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12889280/