Chinese Therapy

So apparently I'm the weird kid at work. And I'm ok with this. Basically I have noticed since starting to work at Central Michigan University, I tend to use some different therapy techniques than my co-workers. Thankfully about 3 years ago I was introduced to the world of Chinese suction cup therapy.

 I am still trying to fully understand them myself. But to put it simply, they help to relieve tension in the fascia (tissue surrounding muscles) by stretching the tissue. Blood flow is also encouraged due to the pressure applied by the suction. Blood flow is always a good thing when healing injures. It brings with it white blood cells or phagocytes, which kill bacteria and other foreign bodies in the blood stream. There are also magnets (positive and negative) that are attached to the cups. From my little experience, the positive magnets relieved the muscle tension the best. I always wondered about this until last semester. I learned from a past student of mine, whose father is Chinese-American, informed her that based on the yin-yang theory, the positive magnets help to get rid of the "negative" energy in the muscle tissue. Hmmmm. I have much research ahead of me of the yin-yang theory. Not sure I will ever fully understand it. But, a good understanding  of anatomy and physiology is a big help.

I have had such great results with these cups, it just encourages me to use them more. I can't imagine doing therapy without them! It really makes me want to continue using the "weird stuff" to help heal injures. I have been starting to use kinesio tape (or my special tape, as my friend Kylee calls it) and having great results. I'm sure I'll be back to talk about that sometime down the road.   

"Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." Matthew 8:7