The Many Benefits of Cupping: Relieve Illness with Just One Cup

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Four Great Classics	TCM Moxibustion	Pediatric Tuina	Disease Inquiry

Cupping is one of the physical therapies in TCM. Due to poor lifestyle habits, modern people generally have issues with excessive dampness and coldness in their bodies. Cupping in beauty salons is favored by customers. Whether it is for general body aches or severe cold dampness, just applying two cups can instantly rejuvenate.

As the saying goes: “Cupping one cup, illness goes away by half”

The cupping method has effects such as unblocking meridians, promoting qi and blood circulation, reducing swelling and pain, and dispelling wind and cold. What do the cup marks left on the body indicate about health issues? Let’s explore “diagnosing through cup marks” together.

In TCM, it is believed that

Marks that show water vapor, blisters, or edema indicate that the patient has excessive dampness, coldness, or has been affected by cold and dampness;

Marks that are blood red or dark red blisters indicate a pathological reaction of long-term illness with dampness and blood stasis;

Marks that are purple-red or purple-black, without stasis or fever, indicate that the patient has cold and blood stasis, with varying severity;

Marks that are purple-red or purple-black, or show spots of pain upon touch, along with body heat, indicate the presence of heat toxin;

Marks that are slightly itchy or show skin patterns indicate the presence of wind symptoms;

Marks with no color change and feel cool to the touch indicate the presence of deficiency-cold symptoms.

• If there are no cup marks or if the marks disappear immediately after cupping, it indicates a relatively mild state of sub-health.

• If the marks do not fade after a few days, it indicates that the condition has persisted for a long time and requires more attention to treatment and care. As the condition improves, the cup marks will also fade, indicating recovery.

Diagnosis Methods for Cup Marks in Different Body Areas

After cupping, the skin may show redness, purple-red, or purple-black bruises, small purple-red spots, known as “cup marks”. The appearance of cup marks in different body areas signals different health issues.

Cupping Acupoint Chart

Lung Area Cup Marks

1. Purple-red spots on both sides indicate bronchitis.

2. Red patches indicate lung heat, with symptoms such as thirst and chest pain.

3. Small patches indicate respiratory tract inflammation, such as pharyngitis or rhinitis.

4. Light purple or red indicates tonsillitis.

5. Light purple or red indicates lymphatic swelling.

6. White indicates lung deficiency.

7. Enlarged pores indicate wind invasion, affected by wind and cold, with stiff neck, shoulder pain, or associated with shoulder periarthritis.

Heart Area Cup Marks1. Connected purple-red spots indicate obstruction in the heart meridian, with symptoms such as chest tightness and shortness of breath.

2. Small patches indicate insufficient blood supply to the brain, with symptoms such as dizziness and a feeling of numbness in the head.

3. Purple-red stripes indicate cervical spine issues.

4. White indicates myocardial ischemia.

5. Enlarged pores with mist indicate rheumatic heart disease.

6. White indicates qi and blood deficiency.

7. Depressed areas indicate insufficient heart blood, weak pulse, and shortness of breath.

8. Red indicates excessive heart fire.

Gallbladder Area Cup Marks

1. Depressed small pits indicate gallstones.

2. Surrounding purple-red spots indicate dysfunction in gallbladder excretion, with symptoms such as bitter taste, rib pain, and jaundice.

3. White indicates low gallbladder function.

4. Light purple circles indicate fright and timidity.

5. Patchy red rashes indicate cholecystitis.

Liver Area Cup Marks1. Red rashes indicate liver fire, with symptoms such as headaches, irritability, flushed face, yellow urine, and dry stools.

2. Central blue marks indicate hepatitis.

3. Light purple circles indicate qi stagnation due to anger.

4. Purple circles indicate fatty liver.

5. Extensive red areas with swelling indicate alcoholic liver disease.

6. Entire liver area showing purple or purple-red indicates high blood viscosity.

7. Purple-blue areas with stiffness indicate liver cirrhosis.

8. Purple-blue spots with white interspersed indicate possible liver ascites.

Spleen Area Cup Marks

1. Red rashes indicate poor appetite or fullness after eating, with symptoms such as dizziness and fatigue.

2. Purple-red with raised areas indicate signs of spleen enlargement, accompanied by irritability and unstable temperament.

3. Red or pink with enlarged pores indicate spleen damp-heat, chills, and spontaneous sweating.

4. Depressed areas indicate poor spleen function, weakness, slow movement, and reluctance to speak.

5. Light purple or purple circles indicate qi stagnation and irritability.

6. Entire area showing purple or purple-red indicates high blood lipids and viscosity, possibly accompanied by high blood pressure.

Stomach Area Cup Marks

1. Red patches indicate stomach issues.

2. Central white indicates stomach cold, with symptoms such as stomach pain that worsens with cold.

3. Red indicates excessive heat, poor appetite, and food accumulation.

4. Light purple circles indicate emotional distress.

5. Surrounding light purple circles indicate superficial gastritis.

6. Surrounding dark purple circles indicate chronic gastritis.

7. Depressed areas with light purple indicate atrophic gastritis.

8. Depressed areas with gray-white indicate poor stomach function and slow peristalsis, with reduced appetite and abnormal stools.

Large Intestine Area Cup Marks

1. Purple-red cup marks indicate heat in the large intestine, with symptoms such as dry stools or bad breath, dizziness, etc.

2. Light purple circles indicate retained stool and dryness in the large intestine.

3. White indicates wind-cold invasion, mainly in the abdomen.

4. Red with enlarged pores indicates damp-heat in the large intestine, poor digestion, frequent stools, or rapid bowel movements after meals.

5. Gray-white with depressed areas indicates slow large intestine peristalsis, or constipation occurring every three to five days.

6. Red spots indicate enteritis, with purple spots indicating chronic enteritis, and light purple spots indicating past enteritis.

Small Intestine Area Cup Marks

1. Purple-red spots indicate small intestine dysfunction, mainly manifesting as abnormal bowel movements, abdominal cramps, and bloating.

2. White with enlarged pores indicates wind-cold invasion, mainly in the abdomen, accompanied by bowel sounds and gas.

3. Gray-white with depressed areas indicates slow small intestine peristalsis.

4. Purple-red spots indicate enteritis.

5. Dark red spots indicate ulceration.

6. Dark purple indicates toxins in the intestines.

7. Light purple spots indicate past inflammation.

8. Dark purple circles indicate constipation and retained stool.

Kidney Area Cup Marks

1. Purple-red spots indicate kidney qi deficiency, such as chronic nephritis, frequent clear urination, nocturia, and soreness in the lower back and legs.

2. White indicates kidney deficiency with water retention, severe swelling below the waist, reduced urine output, and in severe cases, abdominal distension.

3. Depressed small pits indicate granular kidney stones, while white sandy granular pits indicate sandy kidney stones.

4. Enlarged pores that do not fade indicate wind-cold in the left kidney and rheumatism in the right knee.

5. Purple spots indicate past injuries to the lower back, such as sprains or bruises.

6. Purple or light purple circles indicate water retention in the kidneys.

7. Significant color contrast between the kidneys, such as purple-red on the left and gray-white on the right, indicates uncoordinated kidney function, with excess yang or deficient yin, and vice versa.

8. Entire kidney area showing purple-red with hardness indicates hyperfunction.

Bladder Area Cup Marks

1. Purple-red bruises in males indicate prostatitis, frequent urination, urgency, painful urination, or difficulty urinating, with cloudy urine; in females, it indicates menstrual irregularities and other gynecological diseases.

2. Purple-red spots with dull color in males indicate prostate enlargement, while in females, it indicates cervical erosion.

3. Purple-red spots in the lower area indicate hemorrhoids.

4. If the outer circle is white and the inner circle is light purple, it indicates signs of diabetes; if the center is red, it indicates current exacerbation.

5. Peeling skin indicates chronic diabetes symptoms.

6. Entire cup showing gray-white with depressed areas indicates reduced sexual function.

7. Irregular light purple circles indicate past fright and kidney dysfunction.

8. Dark purple spots in females indicate gynecological diseases, with upper areas indicating uterine diseases and diagonal upper sides indicating appendiceal or ovarian diseases.

9. Dark purple spots in females indicate uterine fibroids.

How to Adjust for Different Cup Mark-Related Body Issues?

1. Cup marks that are purple with patches indicate local cold and blood stasis. At this time, patients should focus on dispelling cold. When eating, they can consume more scallions and ginger, and pay attention to keeping warm.

2. Cup marks that are scattered purple dots indicate qi stagnation and blood stasis. At this time, patients should focus on invigorating blood and promoting qi, engaging in more exercise or drinking rose tea.

3. Dark purple cup marks indicate blood stasis, such as dysmenorrhea or insufficient blood supply to the heart, with significant coldness in the affected area. At this time, patients should invigorate blood and break stasis, consuming more black fungus and onions.

4. Light purple cup marks with patches generally indicate a deficiency syndrome. If the spots are prominent at acupoints, it indicates weakness in the related organs, such as kidney deficiency if at the kidney shu point. Targeted medication and nourishment are needed.

5. Bright red cup marks generally indicate yin deficiency or deficiency of both qi and yin. At this time, patients can tonify qi and nourish yin, such as consuming more chicken for qi, and more black sesame, yam, goji berries, grapes, and white fungus, while reducing smoking and drinking, and ensuring adequate sleep to nourish yin.

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