Helix Clinic blog

Cupping is a traditional therapy that acupuncturists often use in conjunction with needles. It involves placing suction cups on the skin to help relieve tension, and is often used to help release tight back muscles.

Tight upper back and shoulder muscles are often caused by a combination of bad posture at work and general stress, and cupping is a great and quick way to help clear the tension.

If you have never had cupping before, it can feel a little strange the first time the cups are put on. The sensation should be tight but not painful.  The traditional method of cupping involved burning the oxygen from the inside of a glass cup with a flame before quickly placing it on the skin, but nowadays plastic pump action cups are often easier to use.

Cupping works by improving the circulation of blood and fluids in the immediate area. This can then help to soften tight muscles or release any points of tension or tight connective tissue.  Sometimes the results are very quick, with relief being felt almost straight away. The only down-side to cupping is that it can leave a mark on the skin for anything between a few hours and a few days.

Overall though, it can be a great treatment and the results often outweigh the temporary cosmetic marks.

Tags: back pain, cupping

Most people have seen the acupressure travel bands that you can buy to help prevent travel-sickness. Unfortunately most of the diagrams that come with these bands don’t give a good indication of exactly where the point is meant to be.

The point is found on the inside of the wrist, about two fingers’ width up the arm from the wrist crease. If you press firmly with your thumb between the two tendons that can be found on the midline of the inner arm  and slide your thumb slowly towards the wrist crease, you should bump up against some bones about 2 or 3 cm before you reach the crease.  If you massage the point on the wrist just in front of the bones you may feel a dull achy sensation. You should press firmly but not too hard.

This point is called ‘nei guan’, or ‘inner gate’, or ‘pericardium 6′, and is a great empirical point to help dispel nausea. It’s location is normally 2 or 3cm in from the wrist crease, at the junction of the radius and ulna bones, between the two prominent tendons on the inside of the arm.

Tags: acupuncture point, nausea