Cupping Therapy for Pain Relief & Trigger Points | 5 CEU

This section will get you up to speed on everything cupping.

There are several types of cups that you can buy. Here I look at the 3 most popular ones and their pros and cons.

Now we will take a look at the pump gun hard plastic cups and what I like and dislike about them

Now we will take a look at soft silicone type cups and what I like and dislike about these

There really isn't any other therapy like cupping. Its' unique in many ways.

Now lets take a look at the options you have for the lubricants that you can use for gliding cupping

Now I will show you the various ways that you can apply the cups and how to use them

Here is a great techniques that you can use that gives a wonderful pulling effect on the soft tissues to enhance loosening up the muscles, fascia and trigger points

Here is  another great technique that you can use that is not only a treatment but also an assessment tool that you can use to see the differences in myofascial tension in the tissues

Here is  another great technique that you can use that once again challenges the soft tissues and loosens them up thereby releasing the tight muscles and trigger points

Here is another great technique that you can use that also loosens up the soft tissues from four different directions

This technique is great when you feel the cups getting 'stuck' on adhesions and tight areas to loosen fascial restrictions and tight muscles

Now I will show you a beautiful deep tissue myofascial massage technique that is great for releasing the soft tissues as well

This technique feels amazing! Its great for challenging the myofascial restrictions and deactivating trigger points

As you get to do more and more gliding cupping, you will notice that the cups have much to tell you

Another great technique that you can also use is by doing cupping whilst you perform active and passive release techniques

Cleaning the cups is very simple

You have the contraindications in your notes but I will go through some important things that you need to be aware of

This is an important lecture not only for your own knowledge but also so that you can be clear to your clients when explaining the potential cupping marks

What do you do with a client that is really hairy?

So I wanted to keep the cupping as real as it would be in a normal treatment with a client

You can join our FB group and ask questions with thousands of students as well

Now that you are up to speed on cupping let's look at trigger points

I am going to show you why my deep tissue trigger point massage courses are completely different from anything that you have learned before. I KNOW that that is a big statement so let me put my money where my mouth is. I will teach you in seconds how to know which muscles are involved for pain in the shins, shin splints, pain in the front and sides of the legs, ankles, feet and toes-WITHOUT having to learn any lists of muscles!

This is the number 1 reason I didn't use trigger point therapy in my spa even though I knew it was effective. My clients wouldn't come back even if I fixed their pain.

This is the number 2 reason I didn't use trigger point therapy in my spa even though I knew it was effective. I was too overwhelmed and there was no way I would remember all of the information so I gave up on it.

Ok, so what exactly is a trigger point and what makes it so important that we deactivate them?

Now that you know what one is, this is why trying to stretch a trigger point without deactivating them is futile

I want you to start thinking not only about your clients thats have pain and stiffness but also your sports people and athletes or even just people that are active in the gym. Trigger point deep tissue massage is also great for performance enhancing and injury prevention so you can market those benefits to your clients as well.

Now, lets dip your toes in the water!

Here is an incredibly relaxing and effective back cupping sequence that you can use for your massage clients that you can include as part of your massage treatments especially for those clients that are tight and stressed.

Now that you are up to speed on both cupping and also trigger points its time to get our game on and start looking at how we will treat each area in my easy and systematic approach to treating conditions

It is important that you treat both sides to balance the muscles. Otherwise if you only treat the painful side you may only be treating the symptoms but not getting to the true cause of the pain

OK, its time to learn how to treat ALL of these conditions in less than 7 minutes without having to remember ONE list of muscles!

• Shin Splints/Pain/Stiffness/Front of Leg

• Front of Ankle Pain/Stiffness

• Side of Leg Pain/Stiffness

• Outer Ankle Sprain/Pain/Weak Ankles/Stiffness

• Top of Big Toe Pain/Stiffness

• Top of Foot Pain/Stiffness

• Tripping (could also be lumbar nerve)

• Top of Smaller Toes Pain/Stiffness

Now it's time to start putting all of those wonderful cupping techniques that you learned to begin treating the myofascial imbalances and trigger points

Here is how to do some active release therapy for the anterior leg

You are about to learn how to treat ALL of these conditions in less than 7 minutes without having to remember ONE list of muscles!

• Calf Pain/Stiffness

• Calf cramps

• Achilles Pain/Stiffness/Tendonitis

• Heel Pain/Stiffness/Heel Spur

• Plantar Fasciitis

• Tight Calves

• Mid arch Pain/Stiffness

• Forefoot Pain/Stiffness

• Bottom of the Big toe Pain/Stiffness

• Bottom of smaller toes Pain/Stiffness

Now we will work the other side of the legs to begin treating the myofascial imbalances and trigger points on the posterior legs

There are also local trigger points on the feet that refer pain locally which you should address as well. Here they are.

Look at what you can already treat! How easy was that!

Now I will show you how to do cupping on the soles of the feet

You are about to learn how to treat ALL of these conditions in less than 15 minutes without having to remember ONE list of muscles! Massage therapists-these techniques will help you enormously for pain and also to give you looser,  healthier muscles in your forearms and hands.

• Tennis elbow/Lateral epicondylitis

• Elbow pain and dysfunction

• Forearm pain/stiffness

• Tight muscles in the forearms and hands

• Dorsal wrist pain/stiffness

• Dorsal hand and finger pain/stiffness

• Pain in the thumbs and webbing

• Trigger finger

• Trigger thumb

• Radial nerve entrapment

By the time you have finished this lecture, you will have a complete system to treat all of these conditions on your self or for your massage clients.

• Tennis elbow/Lateral epicondylitis

• Elbow pain and dysfunction

• Forearm pain/stiffness

• Tight muscles in the forearms and hands

• Dorsal wrist pain/stiffness

• Dorsal hand and finger pain/stiffness

• Pain in the thumbs and webbing

• Trigger finger

• Trigger thumb

• Radial nerve entrapment

Now it's time to start putting all of those wonderful cupping techniques that you learned to begin treating the myofascial imbalances and trigger points on the forearms, wrists and back of the hands

Because of the many veins and thin skin on the tops of the hands we will look at treating these differently

You are about to learn how to treat ALL of these conditions in less than 15 minutes without having to remember ONE list of muscles! Massage therapists-these techniques will help you enormously for pain and also to give you looser,  healthier muscles in your forearms and hands.

• Golfers Elbow/Medial epicondylitis

• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

• Inner elbow pain/stiffness

• Inner elbow pain and dysfunction

• Inner forearm pain/stiffness

• Tight muscles in the forearms flexors and palms of the hands

• Palm side wrist pain/stiffness

• Palm side hand and finger pain/stiffness

• Pain in the thumbs and webbing

• Difficulty with handwriting/fine motor skills

• Finger Stiffness/tightness and weakness

• Poor grip strength

• Numbness and tingling of the thumbs and fingers

• Ulnar nerve entrapment

• Trigger finger

  
  

This is an area that we dont cup as you would know from your contraindications so I will show you what we will do instead

Firstly, I will show you how to treat your own scalenes

Now this is how to treat your scalenes on your massage clients

We need to address these trigger points in case that they are referring pain as well.

Now it's time to start putting all of those wonderful cupping techniques that you learned to begin treating the myofascial imbalances and trigger points one the other side of the forearms

As you are about to see, you will not have to try to remember different muscles and their trigger points like you normally would. This will just be a logical progression as we simply add a  muscle group or two from the lower back treatment when it comes to working on the buttocks and hips.

Let's start with looking at the trigger points for the deep posterior back muscles. As usual, it's all straight forward and easy to learn

Here is an incredibly important muscle that is involved in lower back pain and also buttock pain (but more about that later)

Here is an incredibly important muscle that is involved in lower back pain and also buttock pain (but more about that later)

The gluteals are also contributors to lower back and buttock pain so let's have a quick little look at these as well

Now I will show you how to treat the trigger points with someone that has lower back pain.

Let's now take a look at the muscles involved for hamstring pain and stiffness and how we would treat them

Now we will do cupping for the hamstrings

Let's now take a look at the muscles involved for Outside (lateral) knee pain and how we would treat them

Now that you know the muscles that refer pain to that area, let's get started on treating them

Let's now take a look at the muscles involved for Back (posterior) knee pain and how we would treat them

Now we will treat the trigger points with cupping

Let's now take a look at the muscles involved for front (anterior) knee pain and how we would treat them

Now that you know the muscles that refer pain to that area, let's get started on treating them

Let's now take a look at the muscles involved for Inside (medial) knee pain and how we would treat them

Now that you know the muscles that refer pain to that area, let's get started on treating them

This trigger point is the most common on the body and virtually everyone is affected by this from time to time. It also commonly refers to the temples and produces temple and stress related headaches.

Got a stiff neck that you can cant stretch away? Look no further than this common trigger point that feels so good to have treated.

For those of you that don't know where this is, here is an easy way to locate it

Got a crick in the neck? Having trouble turning your head? This will be the most likely culprit!

Let's take a look at the Sternocleidomastoid (SCM). Its involved in so many conditions so its not to be missed!

We are not going to work the SCM (sternocleidomastoid) muscles in this course as its once again on the anterolateral aspect of the neck

This muscle is involved in so many problems so it is vital to know how to treat it on yourself

Now lets look at how to treat this on a client

Now we will treat those neck trigger points on our clients

This YouTube video has rave reviews on fixing neck pain and has 2.5 million views. But which muscles did they treat? Also you can now start treating all of these conditions with the 3 muscles that you have just learned:

• Back of Head Pain (Sternocleidomastoid, Trapezius)

• Crown Headache (Sternocleidomastoid)

• Temple Headache (Sternocleidomastoid, Trapezius)

• Neck Decreased Sideways Flexion (Sternocleidomastoid, Trapezius)

• Scalp Tenderness (Sternocleidomastoid)

• Stiff Neck (Levator Scapulae, Sternocleidomastoid, Trapezius)

• Dry Cough (Sternocleidomastoid)

• Dizziness/Vertigo (Sternocleidomastoid)

• Hearing Loss (Sternocleidomastoid)

• Eye Redness (Sternocleidomastoid)

• Imbalance (Sternocleidomastoid)

• Nausea (Sternocleidomastoid)

• Eye Tearing (Sternocleidomastoid)

• Trigeminal Neuralgia (Sternocleidomastoid)