News
Chinese Medicine In Spring Newsletter 2011
We are now over six months into our new facility at 321 Main St. Mornington, settling into the area and looking forward to some nicer weather. Spring is finally upon us and Melbourne and surrounds is coming to life around us.
Generally this is a time of year full of indulgence with events including the AFL Grand Final, Spring Racing Carnival and Spring Barbecues forcing us away from our typically healthy habits!
We are seeing increasing amounts of patients suffering from seasonal allergies including digestive imbalance, hay-fever and sinusitis due to lack of diet regulation and over-consumption!. Rest assured this can be rectified through Acupuncture, Chinese Medicine and mild dietary changes!
Chinese Medicine has many branches, including Acupuncture, Chinese Herbal Medicine, Tuina Massage, Moxibustion and Cupping. In this Newsletter we will focus on the benefits from the modality of Cupping.
Cupping is a musculoskeletal therapy that has been used for thousands of years and can be linked to Chinese, Egyptian, Greek and Indian histories. Cupping involves the adherence of cups to large muscles of the back, abdomen, arms and legs.
Cupping has two distinct forms - Fire and Suction.
Suction cupping is used by musculoskeletal therapists that activate the cup though vacuum pumps.
Fire Cupping is the more traditional form of cupping and involves creating a vacuum within the cup using fire. The fire is placed inside the cup to burn out the oxygen and lead to depressurization, creating a vacuum. The cups are then placed onto the patient. These cups are typically made of glass or bamboo.
Cupping can be explained by both Chinese Medicine (TCM) and scientific theories. In TCM principles, the cups break Qi stagnation, increase blood flow in the local area and remove blockages within the meridians supplying the muscle. In science, cupping can be described as the local breakage of capillaries (small blood vessels) to expose the neurotoxins that are produced during pain known as “Substance P”. The bursting of blood vessels increases the blood flow both in and out of the local area. The increase of local blood flow increases the flow of defense and healing cells and carries out the neurotoxins away from the site to be excreted by the Kidneys.
Cupping may leave a bruise like discoloration for minutes, hours or days - the amount of bruising varies depending of the individual body type, also of the amount of toxins stored within the muscles, meridians and skeletal tissues. This marking is indicative of cupping and improved blood flow. The discoloration is not painful like a typical bruise as there has been no direct trauma to the underlying tissue.
Cupping treats -
Deep Tissue Pain, Injuries, Lymphatic Overload, Neuromuscular Functions, Sports Injuries, Fibromyalgia, Myofascial Restriction, Detoxification, Cellulite, Digestive Complaints, General Aches and Pains and also assists General Relaxation and Wellness.
Both Stephen and Janette use cupping as part of their Acupuncture consultation.
Big Thank-You to Lana Mc Near for her contribution to our article on cupping.
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