Cupping and Its Use in Massage Therapy

Cupping is a form of alternative therapy that dates to ancient times and has been found around the world throughout history.

There is so much information available about cupping, so we’ve worked with The Sports Massage Association to bring you this guide on the use of cupping in massage therapy.

You should however review your client's medical history and current conditions before administering a cupping treatment to ensure it is suitable for them and that they do not have contraindications.

What is cupping?

There are different types of cupping therapy which can be generally categorised into dry and wet cupping.

Dry cupping involves placing special cups designed for the treatment on a patient’s skin and creating a vacuum to suction the skin into the cup, lifting the underlying muscle and fascia. This can be particularly useful for treating latissimus dorsi, the iliotibial band & thoracolumbar fascia as an alternative to compressive techniques as they can often be painful, especially the ribs and ITB.

Take a look at this video from Liam Coffey at Muscle Doctor as he demonstrates a technique using dynamic cupping to target and mobilise the Iliotibial Band: Dry Cupping of the ITB.

Wet cupping, whilst similar to dry cupping, further involves creating small cuts or punctures in the skin which draws out a small amount of blood.  This can be carried out following dry cupping, or as a treatment in its own right.

The suction created in cupping was once achieved by lighting a flammable substance such as alcohol in the cup and waiting for the fire to go out to create the vacuum. Many therapists still carry out cupping this way, however, some more modern cupping systems use a pump or other pressure systems to achieve the vacuum (see ‘Which Cupping Set’ below).

Image Credit: Lindsey Ann Louise, The Body Restore

What are the benefits of cupping?

Furhard and Bokhari (2023), found that when it comes to the benefits of cupping therapy, treatment of pain shows the most evidence. Additionally, some patients with illnesses such as hypertension or rheumatoid arthritis have also experienced benefits.

This study also found that while dry cupping was most beneficial for general pain conditions, for inflammatory-related pain conditions, such as shingles, wet cupping was more effective.

Skin Benefits of Cupping:

• Breaks up scar tissue adhesions and promotes myofascial release
• Cupping has been proven to be effective for Acne in recent studies and the British Cupping Association claims it helps with Eczema as well
• Decreases toxins in the skin

Pain Relief Benefits of Cupping:

• Neck pain, Back pain, Knee pain and Shoulder pain
• Carpal Tunnel syndrome 
• High Blood pressure 
• Headaches and migraines 
• Arthritis and fibromyalgia 

It is worth noting, however, that cupping is not suitable for all patients including but not limited to patients suffering from cancer, haemophilia, geriatric patients, or patients who are pregnant (Furhard and Bokhari 2023). Therefore, it is vital to consider all contraindications to cupping before proceeding.

Image Credit: Lindsey Ann Louise, The Body Restore

Cupping as an aid to massage

So how does including cupping as part of your massage therapy help?

Al-Bedah, et al., (2019), state that cupping can produce a comforting and relaxing state of being, that, in turn, leads to improved pain control. 

With soft tissue relaxation and the relief of tension and pain being the major aims of massage therapy, it’s easy to see why cupping can be a beneficial addition to treatments.

The upward pressure created by the cups lifts the tissue as opposed to the downward pressure of massage, but both increase local circulation, relaxing the muscle and associated fascia, and it may be that cupping is less painful for clients.

Because it has similar effects to massage, cupping, particularly running cupping (also known as ‘gliding’ or ‘moving’ cupping), can be beneficial in relieving muscular tension and pain without the therapist having to apply as much pressure. This has obvious benefits to the therapist, especially for lengthy or deep muscle treatments. Running cupping is usually aided by massage mediums such as oils or lotions, see "Massage Mediums and Cupping" below for more details.

Which cupping set should I choose?

We offer a few cupping sets depending on your preferences and needs:

Hansol Cupping Sets 

The Hansol cupping sets come with a variety of glass cup sizes including the 10-piece cupping set and 17-piece cupping set. Both sets come with a pump vacuum handle to make applying the cups easy and effective.

A benefit of the pump handle is that it also allows you to easily control the level of suction you generate. While release valves on the cups make them easy and quick to remove.

Both sets include cups in a variety of sizes for different areas of the body and allowing for more varied treatments.

Silicone Cupping Set

This set comes with 4 cups, each in a different size. As the name suggests, besides the number of cups the major difference between the Hansol Cupping Sets and these is the material of the cups, which is silicone in this case.

Some people find that silicone cups are easier to move around the patient’s skin if you are performing running cupping for a deep massage treatment.

Unlike the previous sets, these cups don’t come with a pump handle, however, the flexible and soft material of the cups means you can still control the degree of suction you want to apply.

Rock Pods Cupping Set 

Developed by the same team as the famous RockTape, Rock Pods are another silicone alternative to standard glass cupping sets. RockPods come in a very practical, unique set of eight silicone pods (4 large, 4 small), allowing you to choose any muscle area you want to treat.

They are a perfect option for beginners and are made from medical-grade silicone material which is extremely easy to clean. The sizes of the cups prove very practical for various areas of the body. Due to their shape, however, if you're looking to use them for running cupping or gliding along the target area, these may not be the best option. For this, we'd recommend looking at the Hansol or silicone sets above.

Massage Mediums and Cupping

You might want to consider using a massage medium when doing a cupping treatment. Particularly when doing running cupping where the cups are moved around the treatment area so a massage medium is essential to achieve a freer, smoother movement.

There are different schools of thought on what medium is best depending on the type of cupping you are doing or the benefit of the medium to the skin. Oils and lotions are the traditional choices for running cupping which aid in the gliding motion of the treatment. You might also want to consider balms, cremes or even waxes.

When choosing a massage medium to use during cupping, it may also come down to your own preferences as a massage therapist but also which medium is suitable for the area of the body you are working on.

Sources and References:

Shabi Furhad; Abdullah A. Bokhari. (Updated 2023). Cupping Therapy. National Library of Medicine. 
Available at [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538253/] 

Abdullah M.N. Al-Bedah, et al., (2019). The medical perspective of cupping therapy: Effects and mechanisms of action. Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine. 9:2, 90-97
Available at [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2225411018300191