Sliding Cupping Techniques
Lung Area Cupping Marks: Click → 【Dong’s Special Acupoints】 “Xie Luo Yuan Zhen” (Drainage Meridian Distant Needle) bloodletting points are distributed throughout the body. 1. If purple-red spots appear on both sides during cupping, it indicates bronchitis. 2. If reddish patches appear during cupping, it indicates lung heat, with symptoms such as thirst and chest pain. 3. If small rashes appear during cupping, it indicates respiratory tract inflammation, such as pharyngitis or rhinitis. 4. If light purple or red appears, it indicates tonsillitis. 5. If light purple or red appears, it indicates lymphatic swelling. 6. If white appears, it indicates lung deficiency. 7. If pores are enlarged, it indicates wind invasion, exposure to wind and cold, with symptoms such as neck stiffness, scapular pain, or accompanying shoulder periarthritis. Observations of cupping marks, impressions, shapes, and colors: 1. If the cupping mark is dark purple and dull, it indicates blood stasis, such as menstrual obstruction, dysmenorrhea, or insufficient cardiac blood supply. If the affected area is severely cold, or if the mark does not fade for several days, it indicates a prolonged illness. If large areas of black-purple marks appear during sliding cupping, it suggests extensive wind-cold invasion, and symptomatic treatment should focus on dispelling cold and removing pathogens. 2. If the cupping mark is purple with patches, it generally indicates cold gathering and blood stasis. 3. If the cupping body shows scattered purple spots of varying depths, it indicates qi stagnation and blood stasis. 4. If light purple appears with patches, it indicates blood issues, accompanied by blood stasis; for example, if it appears at the Shen Shu (Kidney Back Shu) point, it suggests kidney deficiency, while at the Pi Shu (Spleen Back Shu) point, it indicates qi deficiency and blood stasis. 5. If the cupping mark is bright red, it generally indicates yin deficiency, with both qi and yin deficiency. 6. If there are no cupping marks, or if they appear and immediately disappear, returning to normal color, it indicates that the pathogenic factor is still mild. 7. If the cupping mark is pink with no spots and immediately returns to normal skin color, it indicates that the body is free of disease. Note: Normal diagnostic colors: Pink for liver and gallbladder: slightly green; lung and intestines: slightly white; bladder and kidneys: slightly black; heart: slightly red; spleen and stomach: slightly yellow.
Heart Area Cupping Marks: 1. If purple-red marks appear connected vertically during cupping, it indicates obstruction of the heart meridian, which may present with symptoms such as chest tightness and shortness of breath. 2. If small patches appear during cupping, it indicates insufficient blood supply to the brain, with symptoms such as dizziness and a feeling of numbness in the head. 3. If purple-red stripes appear during cupping, it indicates cervical spine disease. 4. If white appears, it indicates myocardial ischemia. 5. If large pores appear with mist, it indicates rheumatic heart disease. 6. If white appears, it indicates qi and blood deficiency. 7. If there are depressions, it indicates insufficient heart blood, weak pulse, and shortness of breath. 8. If red appears, it indicates excessive heart fire.
Gallbladder Area Cupping Marks: 1. If small depressions appear during cupping, it indicates gallstones. 2. If purple-red spots appear around the area, it indicates dysfunction of gallbladder excretion, which may present with symptoms such as bitter taste in the mouth, rib pain, and jaundice. 3. If white appears, it indicates low gallbladder function. 4. If light purple circles appear, it indicates fright and timidity. 5. If patchy red rashes appear, it indicates cholecystitis.
Liver Area Cupping Marks: 1. If reddish rashes appear during cupping, it indicates excess heat in the liver meridian, which may present with symptoms such as headache, irritability, flushed face, yellow urine, and dry stools. 2. If the center of the cupping mark is blue, it indicates hepatitis. 3. If light purple circles appear around the mark, with white inside, it indicates qi stagnation due to anger. 4. If purple circles appear around the mark, it indicates fatty liver. 5. If large areas of reddish marks appear with swelling and hardness, it indicates alcoholic liver disease. 6. If the entire liver area shows purple or purple-red, it indicates high blood viscosity. 7. If purple-blue and stiff, it indicates liver cirrhosis. 8. If purple-blue spots appear with white interspersed, it may indicate some liver ascites.
Spleen Area Cupping Marks: 1. If reddish rashes appear during cupping, it indicates poor appetite or fullness in the ribs after eating, with symptoms such as loose stools, dizziness, and fatigue. 2. If purple-red and raised marks appear, it indicates signs of spleen enlargement, accompanied by irritability and unstable temperament. 3. If red or reddish marks appear with enlarged pores, it indicates damp-heat in the spleen, with symptoms such as chills and spontaneous sweating. 4. If depressions appear, it indicates poor spleen function, weakness, sluggishness, and a tendency to be quiet. 5. If light purple or purple circles appear, it indicates qi stagnation and a bad temper. 6. If the entire area shows purple or purple-red, it indicates high blood lipids and high blood viscosity, possibly accompanied by high blood pressure.
Stomach Area Cupping Marks: 1. If reddish patches appear during cupping, it indicates stomach disease. 2. If the center is white, it indicates stomach cold disease, presenting as stomach pain that worsens with cold. 3. If red appears, it indicates excess heat, poor appetite, and food accumulation. 4. If light purple circles appear, it indicates anger. 5. If light purple circles appear around the area, it indicates superficial gastritis. 6. If dark purple circles appear around the area, it indicates chronic gastritis. 7. If depressions appear with light purple, it indicates atrophic gastritis. 8. If depressions appear with gray-white, it indicates poor stomach function and slow peristalsis, with reduced appetite and abnormal stools.
Large Intestine Area Cupping Marks: 1. If purple-red cupping marks appear, it indicates heat in the large intestine, which may present with dry stools or symptoms such as bad breath and dizziness. 2. If light purple circles appear, it indicates retained stool in the large intestine. 3. If white appears, it indicates wind-cold invasion, mainly in the abdomen. 4. If reddish marks appear with enlarged pores, it indicates damp-heat in the large intestine, poor digestion, frequent stools, or rapid bowel movements after meals. 5. If gray-white appears with depressions, it indicates slow peristalsis in the large intestine, or constipation occurring every three to five days with dry stools. 6. If red spots appear, it indicates enteritis; if purple spots appear, it indicates chronic enteritis; if light purple spots appear, it indicates a history of enteritis.
Small Intestine Area Cupping Marks: 1. If purple-red spots appear during cupping, it indicates dysfunction of the small intestine, mainly presenting as abnormal urination and defecation, lower abdominal cramping, and bloating. 2. If white appears with enlarged pores, it indicates wind-cold invasion, mainly in the abdomen, accompanied by bowel sounds and gas. 3. If gray-white appears with depressions, it indicates slow peristalsis in the small intestine. 4. If purple-red spots appear, it indicates enteritis. 5. If dark red circles appear, it indicates ulceration. 6. If dark purple appears, it indicates toxins in the intestines. 7. If light purple spots appear, it indicates a history of inflammation. 8. If dark purple circles appear around the area, it indicates constipation and retained stool.
Kidney Area Cupping Marks: 1. If purple-red spots appear during cupping, it indicates kidney qi instability, such as chronic nephritis, with frequent clear urination, nocturia, and soreness in the lower back and legs. 2. If white appears, it indicates kidney deficiency with water retention, severe swelling below the waist, reduced urine output, and in severe cases, abdominal distension and scrotal swelling. 3. If small depressions appear, it indicates granular kidney stones; if white sand-like particles appear, it indicates sandy kidney stones. 4. If pores are enlarged and do not fade for a long time, the left kidney indicates wind-cold in the lower back, while the right kidney indicates rheumatism in the joints of the legs. 5. If purple spots appear, it indicates past injuries to the lower back, such as sprains, bruises, or other trauma. 6. If purple or light purple circles appear internally, it indicates water retention in the kidneys. 7. If there is a significant color difference between the two kidneys, such as purple-red on the left and gray-white on the right, it indicates uncoordinated kidney function, with yang excess and yin deficiency, or vice versa. 8. If both kidneys show purple-red and are hard and protruding, it indicates hyperfunction.
Bladder Area Cupping Marks: 1. If purple-red bruises appear during cupping, in males, it indicates prostatitis, with symptoms such as frequent urination, urgency, pain during urination, or difficulty urinating; in females, it indicates menstrual irregularities and other gynecological diseases. 2. If purple-red patches appear with dull color inside, in males, it indicates prostate enlargement; in females, it indicates cervical erosion. 3. If purple-red spots appear in the lower area, it indicates hemorrhoids. 4. If the outer circle shows white and the inner circle is light purple, it indicates signs of diabetes; if the center of the cupping mark is red, it indicates current exacerbation. At least two or more signs. 5. If peeling occurs, it indicates symptoms of chronic diabetes. 6. If the entire cupping body shows gray-white with depressions, it indicates reduced sexual function. 7. If irregular light purple circles appear, it indicates past fright and kidney dysfunction. 8. If dark purple spots appear in females, it indicates gynecological diseases, with the upper area indicating uterine diseases and the diagonal sides indicating appendiceal or ovarian diseases. 9. If light purple spots appear in females, it indicates uterine fibroids. Note: Leave the cups on for 5 to 6 minutes before removing them, and diagnose based on the skin condition after cupping. This method is based on clinical experience and should not be used as a theoretical basis, but for reference only.
