You’ve probably seen photos of people with round red marks on their back before. This is what happens when someone has received Cupping Therapy. Curious about cupping? We were too, so we took a dive into finding out what it is all about.

What exactly is Cupping therapy? Well, it involves placing heated cups on the skin, which creates a strong suction. This suction draws the skin and underlying tissue up into the cup, promoting blood flow and helping to release muscle tension.

Cupping has been used in different cultures for thousands of years to treat a variety of conditions; but it is particularly effective for relieving back and neck pain.

Here are 3 surprising benefits to cupping you should know about when considering cupping as an alternative treatment option:

While it is sometimes used as a cosmetic treatment, cupping does really well on physical pains of the Musculoskeletal System. Yes, it’s incredibly strange but there is no denying that people do experience pain relief after cupping. Those who suffer from back or neck pain, report that their aches are relieved by it.

Why does cupping work according to science? Because it’s a manual therapy that creates blood flow. Blood is the great detoxifier of the body (besides the liver). It carries away what is toxic in the tissues and replenishes them with fresh oxygen and nutrients.

When you manually manipulate soft tissue, you are always going to stimulate blood flow. Manual movements can loosen muscles, creating more space for lubrication in the joints as well.

The bodies systems are all connected so manual adjustments affect the Circulatory System, which directly affects the Musculoskeletal System. Cupping uses and effects all of these systems at once, getting them communicating and working together to bring healing and pain relief.

Cupping is fairly innocuous. It won’t create more harm to a soft tissue injury so can be used for just about anything, whether you have torn ligaments, tension or muscle strain. Trying it out can’t make an injury worse, but it will enhance your recovery.

Is your pain acute or chronic? Acute inflammation can trigger increased inflammation down stream, leading to greater discomfort. Cupping is a great tool for either of these cases because it’s not going to trigger downstream inflammation and is a very safe option to have in your recovery arsenal, regardless of what stage you are at in your recovery.

Chronic pain is often related to chronic positions and repetitive motion within our joints or muscles. We do the same motions over and over and over, often 5 days a week… and our muscles can seem to crystalize into certain compensatory positions (ie. hunched shoulders, hunched back, etc.).

Back pain and neck pain are insidious results of long hours in front of computers. Computer time increases the amount of time spent hunched over, by as much as eight hours per day! Cupping Therapy seems to be immensely beneficial for these types of postural issues.

Because chronic postural positions relate to the soft tissue, bringing the heat and suction from Cupping Therapy, to specific parts of the body, can really bring movement and blood flow to targeted areas. It can essentially effect change in the soft tissues that need it.

This may be quite obvious, but it’s important to remember to assess our daily habits of hunching (or whatever repetitive-type movement you are doing for work). The body is very good at giving feedback and information about how it is doing via pain signals. It is innately trying to protect nerves and stay in homeostasis, but these positions can ultimately cause the back, neck and head pains that plague us.

So if chronic pain comes from chronic overuse, then wouldn’t you need consistent treatment to retrain the musculoskeletal system to new postural possibilities?

Well, we can’t normally see a Cupping Therapy practitioner everyday. So how do we create daily habits that change our chronic postural issues and therefore our chronic pain conditions?

Well, you’re in luck, because developed a device that does just that: Cupping Therapy for daily use. Having access to cupping everyday so you can make lasting changes to your musculoskeletal system. This device is called the REVO™ Cupping Massager.

This fascinating cupping device (that does so much more than just cupping) can be used in the comfort of your own home. It’s derived from traditional cupping, but has been enhanced with modern technology, to maximize its impressive list of benefits.

The REVO™ Cupping Massager is safe to use without the help of a professional because it is flame-free. It has a “breathing” technology that suctions and releases rhythmically; kind of like getting a massage. The REVO™ Smart Cupper is also equipped with red and near-infrared light that penetrate the deeper layers of the skin and tissues.

There are also heating options reaching up to 122°F to warm the targeted area. There’s an adjustable level of suction (which traditional cupping doesn’t include). And lastly, you can add essential oils to your skin while using it so you can glide the cupper across skin for a broader boost of blood flow (we especially love this feature).

There are many surprising benefits of cupping therapy for our modern lifestyles: pain relief, improved blood flow, increased mobility, enhanced recovery, and postural changes. Not to mention that it is fairly innocuous and can now be done safely in your home now with the technology of the REVO™ Cupper. The multiple healing methods of the REVO™ Cupper are like traditional cupping but on steroids, and we are excited to give it a try.

Also check out: How Cupping Can Help You Get Rid of Cellulite