If you are at the point in your fibromyalgia journey where you want or need someone else to work the pain out of your body—like you just can’t go it alone anymore—then there’s a treatment out there that you must try. Cupping for fibromyalgia is the latest craze in alternative medicine, and it may be exactly the kind of help that you need.
What is Cupping Therapy?
If you don’t already know, cupping for fibromyalgia and other chronic pain conditions stems back thousands of years! Cupping therapy involves the placement of many cups, with the open ends against the skin, in strategic places around your body.
An expert in cupping will know what size and how many cups to use. They’ll also know exactly where to place the cups in order to maximize their effectiveness.
The cups will suck against you, often leaving circular marks once the treatment is complete. But the healing results are fantastic—well worth the temporary suction marks.
Cupping for fibromyalgia can help relieve your symptoms in a few ways.
It improves:
- Circulation
- Inflammation
- Pain symptoms
- Your ability to relax
All-in-all, cupping for fibromyalgia is extremely doable, affordable, and worth your while to try.
Should You Try Wet or Dry Cupping for Fibromyalgia?
Let’s talk science!
Dry cupping is the most popular of your two cupping for fibromyalgia options. With dry cupping, your therapist will place cups around your body and either use temperature fluctuations or a vacuum to create suction. Your skin and surface muscles will lift into the cup like a bubble or a dome.
Wet cupping follows the same steps as dry cupping, except your therapist will poke a hole in your skin first and allow blood to flow into the cup during the procedure. The reason for breaking the skin has to do with purifying your blood or removing contaminants from your body.
With cupping for fibromyalgia, you have to explain your goals, comfort level, and medical history to your cupping therapist in order to make the best decisions about your treatment. Be sure to also consult your primary care doctor before you begin!
How Can Cupping Help Fibromyalgia Symptoms?
What’s the reason for all of this sucking, puncturing, and bruising? It all sounds so extreme, but a chronic and painful condition like fibromyalgia often calls for extreme measures! Take a look at how cupping for fibromyalgia can help you alleviate your symptoms.
It Relieves Back, Joint, and Muscle Pain
To be clear, cupping for fibromyalgia can’t take away all of your symptoms. But it can significantly improve pain in some major areas: your back, skeletal joints, and other large muscle groups. If you can knock out those few tremendous problems, the rest of your symptoms might feel like small change.
Think about the last time you went for a walk, sat down to read a book, or even brushed your teeth without muscular or joint pain. If you are having trouble remembering, it’s time to try cupping.
Related: 5 Best Products for Fibromyalgia Relief That Will Make Your Life Easier
It Reduces Stress and Anxiety
Like other types of massages or muscle treatments, cupping for fibromyalgia is extremely relaxing. Taking some time to invest in a feel-good physical treatment will automatically boost your mental wellness, too. It’ll quiet your nerves, lift stress away, and clear your head of toxic thoughts and worry.
Think of cupping for fibromyalgia as a way to take charge—putting yourself in the driver’s seat of your daily pain. With that control comes mental relief.
It Gives Your Immune System a Boost
It is a widely-known fact that chronic illnesses can weaken your body’s defenses. When you implement cupping for fibromyalgia with your other health routines, you are building your immune system back up.
Cupping for fibromyalgia also has a specific influence on the quality of your blood. The suction action works to reset your blood’s alkalinity, boosts blood cell counts, and even encourages blood flow to tissues most in need. Collectively, this makes your body stronger and ready to take on foreign invaders.
It Releases Toxins to Help Reduce Inflammation
Picture a creek flowing in the forest.
Trash, sticks, and mud will slow the flow of water from one end to the other. This is true of toxins in your bloodstream, as well!
Cupping for fibromyalgia has been proven to flush out toxins so that your body can process them away naturally. It must feel great to have all of the blood in your body be cleaned and filtered for maximum efficiency.
It Helps Injuries Heal Faster
As a fibromyalgia patient, the effects of an injury will be experienced tenfold over someone without fibromyalgia. Your daily life is pain even without injury, so tacking on an extra physical burden might feel unbearable.
Cupping for fibromyalgia improves blood flow, which means more blood cells can get around to the job of healing and rebuilding after an injury.
What You Need to Know Before You Try Cupping for Fibromyalgia
Keep in mind what you know about your specific body. Chances are that your physical needs and limitations differ dramatically from the person giving you your treatment. This means that you have to advocate for yourself and steer your therapist away from your most troubled areas.
When you have fibromyalgia, even the gentlest touches can be excruciating. Don’t let this alone deter you from trying cupping for fibromyalgia. Just take the time to discuss your concerns with your cupping therapist and map out a treatment plan that’s right for you.
Every person with fibromyalgia is different, so you can’t be sure what out-of-the-box treatment will work wonders for you. Cupping for fibromyalgia has been studied and proven time after time! Maybe it is time that you tried it.