What's the deal with cupping?

Although we can thank Michael Phelps for making cupping trendy back in the 2016 Olympics, cupping therapy actually dates back to ancient Chinese medicine. While I have a great deal of respect for Chinese medicine and my acupuncturist is amazing 🙌, I’ll be focusing on how we use RockPods (RockTape’s version of cupping) in our clinic. Which means we will not be talking about fire 🔥 or toxins 🧪 sorry friends!

The first thing that happens when we pop these pods on the skin is provide neurosensory information to the brain. This can be helpful if we’re dealing with pain and/or if we’re trying to change a movement pattern. The pods can bring more awareness to an area and give you feedback about where your body is in space. My favorite trick is to use them to cue patients with exercise🏃‍♂️. Because the pods come in two colors, I can use cues like bring the red cup towards the black cup. Sometimes we have to make rehab fun!

Now let’s talk about grilled cheese…imagine this…a nice grilled cheese sandwich🥪. Preferably sourdough bread, classic American cheese like 3 slices stacked on that bread…anyway…picture the top layer of bread as your skin, the cheese as layers of fascia (the connective tissue that keeps your muscles, organs, skin, in place), and that bottom piece of bread your muscle 💪. Ok got it????

Now… the pods are going to give us a nice decompression on the top piece of bread creating more space so those beautiful layers of cheese can slide back and fourth as you move throughout the day. Often what happens is the cheese gets stuck. Think about a grilled cheese that’s been sitting around for hours (this is like someone who has not been moving for a long time). That cheese and bread gets compressed doesn’t glide, doesn’t move well kind of all blends together, and is a mess. No bueno!

So in a nutshell…they lift up on the skin 🙌 to create more space 🚀 and decrease pain 🔥 so you can move better 🏃‍♀️ and feel better 💆‍♀️.

Nick PattersonNovember 5, 2019