Purple-black — indicates insufficient blood supply and accumulation of cold.
Purple with black spots — indicates stagnation of Qi and blood.
Purple spots with varying shades — indicates wind-dampness.
Bright red and hot — indicates Yang syndrome, heat syndrome, excess syndrome, intense heat toxin, Yin deficiency constitution, or excessive fire.
Dark red — indicates thick blood lipids, high blood lipids, or insufficient blood supply.
Bruises or blood blisters that are gray-white or pale — indicate deficiency-cold and dampness.
Slight itching of the skin — indicates wind pathogen or dampness syndrome.
Blisters, edema, or dampness — indicate cold syndrome or excessive dampness.
Water droplets inside the cup — indicate heavy cold-dampness.
Purple-red or dark red — indicates Yin syndrome, cold syndrome, or blood stasis.
Flushed or light red — indicates deficiency syndrome.
Rapid recovery of the local area — indicates quick healing.
1. If the cup mark is tight, black, and dark: it generally indicates blood stasis in the body, such as dysmenorrhea or insufficient blood supply to the heart. If the mark does not fade for several days, it usually indicates a long-standing condition that requires a longer time for adjustment. If large areas of black-purple marks appear during cupping, it suggests a significant area affected by wind-cold, and treatment should focus on dispelling cold.
2. If the cup mark is purple with patches, it generally indicates local cold congealing and blood stasis.
3. If the cup mark shows scattered purple spots of varying shades, it generally indicates Qi stagnation and blood stasis.
4. If the cup mark is light purple with patches, it generally indicates a deficiency syndrome with blood stasis. If the spots are prominent at acupoints, it indicates weakness of the related internal organs; for example, if it appears at the Shen Shu (Kidney Back Shu) point, it suggests kidney deficiency.
5. If the cup mark is bright red, it generally indicates Yin deficiency or deficiency of both Qi and Yin, and Yin deficiency with excessive fire may also occur.
6. If the cup mark shows bright red scattered spots, it usually appears after extensive cupping and does not protrude above the skin. If concentrated at a specific acupoint and its vicinity, it indicates abnormalities or conditions related to that organ.
7. If there are no cup marks (or they are not obvious) after cupping, or if they disappear immediately after removing the cup and return to normal color, it indicates that the body is generally normal or the condition is mild.
8. If the cup easily produces blisters, it indicates heavy dampness. If many small blisters appear at the affected area, it suggests that it is caused by dampness and will have an ideal therapeutic effect, requiring multiple sessions of cupping.
9. If wind hives (like acute urticaria) appear during cupping, it indicates a wind pathogen or an allergic constitution.
10. As the condition improves, the cup marks will also lessen, and it will be difficult to see cup marks. Regularly scraping the back can help to clear the meridians.