Hello all. You may or may not know that we provide acupuncture treatments here as well as chiropractic services. Acupuncture as a treatment can be done many ways. One of the treatment options is cupping. Cupping tends to come and go in popularity as a treatment but is commonly used at this time. You may have seen a friend that has peculiar round bruises on their shoulder or leg. These minor bruises are caused by cupping. In general cupping is used to reduce pain. It does this by pulling fluid from deeper tissues toward the surface where the body can more easily dissipate it. Its as simple as that. Classic cupping uses glass bulbs which are rubbed with alcohol, set on fire, and quickly dropped onto the treatment area. As the air in the bulb cools it forms a vacuum and pulls the skin up and the fluid under it towards the surface. The suction causes the bruising. In our office we use a hand pump to make the vacuum in small bell jars. It works the same but it’s a bit safer than the fire method.