Education

Our resident Acupuncturist and doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Mahsa Ahmadi had a great feature in Vitamin V for Cosmetic Acupuncture. Click here to read more. Mahsa is now offering cupping with her practice here at Spruce Body Lab. So if you want to bring your health regimen to another level and join the ranks of Gwyneth Paltrow and Britney Spears (both have been seen sporting cupping induced circles on their bared backs…) , go to our acupuncture page and learn more about this ancient therapy.

Personal Experience

I recently came down with a cold that I thought that I had beat, but has subsequently been beating me; I’ve gradually felt worse each day.  I’m not one to take a cold lying down, so I thought I’d try some acupuncture and cupping to see if it could help.

I have to admit that I was a little concerned about the cupping. Would it be really hot? Would I have frightening bruises all over my back? My fears were soon laid to rest as the cups were applied to my back like little suction vacuums and moved along my spine. The first application of the cups didn’t feel warm, the second felt a little more intense, both in temperature and the intensity of the suction action.  I didn’t have any discomfort, in fact, it felt good. I would liken it to the feeling of fascial work with massage therapy.

As an unfortunate side effect of sneezing in the midst of this cold, I had tweaked my neck and shoulder, which happens to me, off an on. I usually seek out massage therapy to treat this when it happens, The cupping really helped and I didn’t feel any more aches and pains in my shoulder afterwards.

During my acupuncture treatment, Dr. Ahmadi placed two needles on either side of my nostrils to help relieve congestion in my sinuses. It helped considerably, and while I still have my cold, I’ve been breathing through my nose quite comfortably since my treatment.

My concern with the bruising that arises from cupping did come to fruition. I was a bit startled when I noticed the circular patches of burst blood vessels. Most of them were faint, but I had one that was more defined and noticeable.  After I saw them once, I forgot about them, as they didn’t cause me any discomfort. The verdict: I’m not going to be doing cupping during bikini season, but it’s still on my list of remedies for pain relief.

Overall, I’m ecstatic that I can turn to acupuncture and cupping to boost my body’s ability to heal and recover and hopefully this cold has seen it’s last days!