How Does Flame Cupping Work? A Myotherapist Explains

Have you ever wondered about flame cupping? Flame cupping sounds scarier than what it really is. Let’s have a look at the facts around flame cupping, and how it might be beneficial for you.

What is flame cupping?
Flame cupping is a form of dry cupping that uses fire to cause a vacuum in a cup. The cup is then placed on the area of skin being treated.

What is flame cupping good for?
Flame cupping is great for relieving muscle tension, especially tension that isn’t responding quickly to hands-on techniques.

The best part about flame cupping? It is applied and left on while your practitioner continues to work on another area of the body. So if you have a sore shoulder and tight lower back, they can cup the shoulder and massage the lower back or vice versa.

Is flame cupping going to burn me?
It shouldn’t if it’s applied by a qualified flame cupping therapist. A qualified therapist who has training in flame cups knows how long to heat each cup before applying it to the skin.

If you’re worried, ask your practitioner about their training in flame cups before agreeing to treatment.

Who can’t have flame cupping?
As useful as flame cupping is, there are a few contraindications to keep in mind.

Flame cupping is not recommended for those with diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure or those using medications such as warfarin.

Flame cupping cannot be safely applied over wounds. However, it can be used over fully healed scar tissue.

Does flame cupping detoxify the body?
Not really. Flame cups can’t detoxify you – that’s the job of your liver and other detox organs. But in a way, they can support the natural detoxification process.

It increases blood flow to the area, which improves the exchange of oxygen and waste products in that area. The waste products are then transported to the liver and detox organs and excreted from the body.

I have dark marks after flame cupping – is this a bad thing?
Cupping marks are normal after a treatment. They aren’t bruises or a sign of tissue damage.

Eastern medicine practitioners such as acupuncturists believe that cupping marks are a sign of what is happening in the body. For example, darker marks are signs of how stagnant the energy or ‘chi’ is.

For myotherapists, they are bruise-like marks caused by surface capillaries that break during the suction.

Either way, they are nothing to worry about – they will fade over the period of 3-7 days for most people. If your cupping marks remain dark or tender for a prolonged period, contact your therapist directly for a check-in.

How can I try out flame cupping?
By booking an appointment with our flame cupping myotherapist Emily! Emily loves to work with flame cupping, because she can work on two areas of tension at once.

To book a session with Emily, head to our booking page and select ‘Emily Wells’ for your practitioner.