Therapeutic Interventions and Contraindications of Cupping

By Kaylen Kallander

Cupping therapy is used to apply negative pressure to a localized area of muscular or neurological pain to relieve nerve pressure and increase blood flow to an affected area. This modality is commonly used for athletes, but is also a frequent treatment in physical therapy, occupational therapy, or hand therapy. While cupping can be an effective and beneficial treatment, it should be used in correct circumstances with specific precautions.

Reasons for Use

  • Musculoskeletal injuries/tightness
  • Myofascial adhesions
  • Neurologic pain with doctor’s approval

Cupping along median nerve pathways modified to use smaller cups for this patient whose arms had less surface area for suction.

Contraindications & Reasons to Discontinue

  • Open wounds or acute injury with 24-72 hours
  • Neurovascular compromise
  • Cardiac or blood malfunction
  • Blisters, lightheadedness, or significant pain during use

Considerations

In addition to the appropriate application of cupping therapy, a thorough explanation of treatment effects must be provided to patients. Patients, or parents of minor patients, should give consent before treatment proceeds. Allergies to cupping material, lotion, or oil should be considered as well. Significant bruises are expected and can last from a few days to two weeks. However, treatment should always be within a patient’s pain tolerance. While soreness is normal, it shouldn’t feel worse than having received a deep tissue massage. Patients who have received multiple treatments often present less discomfort with increased suction and decreased bruising over time. Therapeutic effects of cupping treatment can be seen with as little as 5 minutes but should be no longer than 30 minutes if in a static position.

Key Takeaways

Therapy should always be holistic, purposeful, and patient specific. Cupping may be utilized for various diagnoses and pain relief, but patient experience and preference is equally important. Furthermore, a sufficient background of medical knowledge is required to understand potential contraindications to refrain from, delay, or cease treatment. With professional critical reasoning, cupping can be a great modality to use in hand therapy for decreased muscular or nerve pain.

Cage, A. (2019). Clinical Experts Statement: The definition, Prescription, and application of cupping Therapy. Clinical Practice in Athletic Training, 2(2), 4–11. https://doi.org/10.31622/2019/0002.2

4 Comments

  1. Leia on December 14, 2024 at 3:49 am

    I love your blog posts. Short and full of little gems.

    • Miranda Materi on January 11, 2025 at 6:08 am

      Thank you for your kind words! We love sharing.

  2. Jay Gerzmehle on December 16, 2024 at 1:59 pm

    I would add to always include active movement with your cupping treatments for best results.

    • Miranda Materi on January 11, 2025 at 6:07 am

      That is a great tip as well!

Leave a Comment






More To Read

The 4 Stages of Simple Wound Care in Hand Therapy

September 5, 2021

Wound care is messy. It can be intimidating and scary. With so many variations of wounds (for example, white skin around wound) and so many products out there it is hard to know what to use, when to use it, and how to use it. If you go to a wound care conference, you’ll spend most…

Read More

Efficacy of Virtual Reality Rehabilitation after Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review

October 20, 2024

De Araújo, A. V. L., Neiva, J. F. D. O., Monteiro, C. B. D. M., & Magalhães, F. H. (2019). Efficacy of virtual reality rehabilitation after spinal cord injury: A systematic review. BioMed Research International, 2019(1), 7106951. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/7106951 Efficacy of Virtual Reality Rehabilitation after Spinal Cord Injury Emilee Sanders, OTS  The Skinny: Virtual reality (VR)…

Read More

Tennis Elbow and Graded Exercises

April 21, 2024

Lateral Elbow Pain with Graded Exercise Chronic tennis elbow with a supervised graded exercise protocol Özdinçler, A. R., Baktır, Z. S., Mutlu, E. K., & Koçyiğit, A. (2023). Chronic lateral elbow tendinopathy with a supervised graded exercise protocol. Journal of Hand Therapy, 36(4), 913–922. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jht.2022.11.005  The Skinny: This study looked at the effectiveness of an…

Read More

CMC Arthritis Orthosis in the Hand: Mechanics and Purpose

November 1, 2020

One of the most common diagnoses we see in hand therapy is osteoarthritis of the 1st carpo-metacarpal joint where the metacarpal articulates with the trapezium. Also known as basal joint arthritis (CMC arthritis), this causes pain, joint deformity, loss of strength and loss of function. Patients come to us looking for relief of symptoms and…

Read More
Envelope_1

Sign-up to Get Updates Straight to Your Inbox!

Sign up with us and we will send you regular blog posts on everything hand therapy, notices every time we upload new videos and tutorials, along with handout, protocols, and other useful information.