posted
I have cupping sets at home that I like to use when I'm feeling all knotted up in my back. Long before I knew about Lyme, I suffered with horrible "fibromyalgia" pains. I went to the acupuncturist who did cupping therapy and "tui na" massage as well as normal acupuncture, and it helped a lot with muscle/spine pain.
It loosens all the knots and the relief is almost immediate (although your most painful areas will feel a bit uncomfortable under the sunction). It is not a cure, but definitely helpful with easing pain.
Curiously, my most tender and painful parts are the ones that turned dark purple/blue/brownish! Parts of my back that didn't really hurt had little to no redness.
It's also helpful for trigger points around the shoulder area. It's like a reverse massage for tight knotted areas... instead of pushing into the muscles it's pulling out. Afterwards you might feel a little tender where you used the suction but rub it a little and it feels better. Marks usually last for about 3-7 days for me.
That being said, I have not used my cupping therapy in months. Every since I started hyperbaric oxygen therapy all my muscle/joint/spine/bone pain has vanished. No more cracking neck.
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MichaelTampa
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My acupuncturist uses this on me sometimes. Last time the marks lasted about 3 weeks, while she said typical was 3 days or so. She says that it took that long was a sign of poor blood flow, that blood is not really moving. That is something we had already concluded, so it was an interesting confirmation of that.
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Judie
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I tried it a few times. It did nothing to help me.
It caused bad bruising for about a week. It looked like someone had beat me.
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GretaM
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I used this is conjunction with gua sha (sp?).
Bruise from cupping last about a week.
The cups are moved around on the skin and then taken off, reapplied etc.
They don't hurt.
The gua sha (sp?) scraping hurts.
Also the bleeding/blood examining done under the special cups hurts just a bit when the lancet cuts the skin.
Cupping as massage is very relaxing.
But as far as all TCM goes, I still find acupuncture most beneficial for me.
Gua sha (sp?) is my least favorie.
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GretaM
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Xrunner-i went hogwild with tcm for 6 months 3 days per week. Acupuncture, cupping, gua sha for my "headaches" before my lyme dx. The tcm docs were bang on with the damp heat and splenic dx but could not clear the toxins and did not help the headaches even with the aggressive treatments.
When my IV abx finishes and I get well enough to get back on orals only, I plan on returning to acutpuncture to help balance meridians.
Cupping is very relaxing.
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Judie
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Gosh, I had such a different experience than others. It felt like something was pinching me when I was cupped. Not relaxing at all.
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poppy
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Surprising that this old, and discredited treatment is still being used. What next....bleeding and purging? This stuff dates back centuries.
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MichaelTampa
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TCM also dates back centuries and has provided important help to me in my health struggles that no other method has. Really, I think those without a TCM doctor on their team are missing out greatly.
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Judie
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Not all TCM/acupuncturists are created equal. My non-lyme TCM/literate acupuncturist was one of the the best for pain relief (I just avoided the herbs and did what I knew worked with her).
Just be careful of doing ALL your treatments through TCM.
Unfortunately it was the "supposedly lyme-literate" TCM doctor who got me in the mess I'm in with chronic Lyme. She insisted I take herbs instead of antibiotics when I still had the bulls-eye rash. She said we could do antibiotics in 6-8 months if I don't improve. UGH.
Two months in I was so ill (not herx, but Lyme progressing). I got myself to the LLMD and that stopped the downward tumble.
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