Learn about cupping marks, what they reveal about your body, and how to help them heal!
Do you remember the first time you saw fire cupping marks on someone else's back? To someone who hasn't heard of fire cupping before, they can look quite surprising! Let's dive into how cupping marks form, what they reveal about your body, and how to help them heal.
First off, What Is Fire Cupping?
Cupping is an ancient therapy that applies suction to the skin with a vacuum effect. Often Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners and acupuncturists perform fire cupping using glass cups and a flame to create the vacuum inside of the cup. Then, we place the cup immediately on the body, creating a suction which pulls up skin and muscle into the cup.
Not only does the treatment feel good in the moment, its lasting effects can help to foster healing and improve health by promoting:
What Are Fire Cupping Marks?
Most people see red or purple marks on the body and identify them as a "bruise". A bruise is caused by impact trauma, injuring muscle fibers and breaking capillaries as immune cells rush to the damaged area. This is not what's happening during cupping therapy.
In a cupping treatment, there is no compression or injury. Instead, suction inside of the cups pulls in the skin and muscle layers to rapidly release rigid soft tissue, break up adhesions and knots, and smooth stagnate blood, qi, and lymph flow.
The colors you see with fire cupping marks are the results of tiny capillaries opening up from the cupping suction where the cups were placed, called petechiae in Western medical terms. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, we call these fire cupping marks "sha", defined as a red or purple rash that shows where qi and blood are stagnant and a healthy flow is blocked.
When we intentionally bring this "sha" to the surface with cupping or gua sha, we help this stagnation move. The body's internal healing process is stimulated by the intentional creation of "sha", and after the marks have healed, qi and blood can flow in a healthy way again.
The color may range from light pink to dark purple and varies depending on the severity of tension and pain before treatment (darker colors possibly indicating more stagnation and more deep, severe pain) or the concentration of toxins in the body. Smokers or people who use pharmaceuticals regularly often have darker marks since these chemicals are often stored deep in the muscle layers.
It is also common to see more color appear near the upper portion of the body as these muscles tend to be overworked by sedentary postures, "tech neck", and tension from stress.
How Long Will Fire Cupping Marks Last?
It can take time for marks to fade, but this often depends on:
How active you are: regular exercise and an active lifestyle can shorten healing time
How deep the colors were immediately post-treatment: the more stagnation and toxins that were brought up to the surface, the longer they may take to get processed out
Cupping marks will start to lighten within a day following treatment and will be mostly gone over the next few days. For patients who have very deep purple marks initially, remaining "sha" may last 1-2 weeks.
How Can I Help Fire Cupping Marks Go Away?
We recommend drinking extra water for the next 24 hours after a cupping treatment to help flush out any of the toxins we pulled up during treatment and to help the body regenerate healthier tissues after the session. It's also best to keep the back and neck covered with a scarf or extra layers and avoid any extreme heat or cold exposure as they heal.
Taking an epsom salt bath or a warm shower and then gentle stretching can also aid the healing process.
How Many Fire Cupping Sessions Are Recommended?
It is not uncommon to see drastic results after one or two treatments, but for best results, 3-5 treatments booked about 1 to 2 weeks a part are recommended for the full effect.
Can Cupping Marks Act As a Health Barometer?
The amazing thing about fire cupping marks is that you can track your healing progress with them! After each subsequent treatment, most people see lighter and lighter marks that heal faster than the last session. This is a great sign, indicating that deep tension, pain, and/or toxins are coming up to the surface of the body and are being processed out as new, healthier tissue and efficient circulation take root.
Book Fire Cupping Therapy!
If you're local to the greater New Orleans, LA area, we'd be happy to introduce you to your first (or 50th!) cupping session! Our clinic is located in downtown New Orleans. Check out our availability and schedule your first treatment here.
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