Can Practitioners with Physical Disabilities Perform Cupping?

Cupping Therapy Question and Answer Series

Intro

Thank you for joining us for another installment of our Cupping Therapy Q&A Series. Here, we feature clinical questions submitted to us by ACE Massage Cupping Therapy practitioners. Our educators offer some brief insight on the topic so that you can expand your working knowledge on this revolutionary bodywork therapy and its benefits.

Question

Hello, I am a massage therapist but I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. I would like to continue to help with healing clients. My question is, could I learn cupping and do it with a hand tremor?

Answer

I think this subject should be thought of more about her comfort in gripping and working with the cups, rather than the efficacy of the work? Unless I am misinterpreting, I don’t feel there would be too much of a barrier between her hands and her clients so I believe the this is more up to how she can manipulate the equipment, and do her other bodywork as well. Moreover, there really aren’t ‘just cups only’ applications so there would have to be some level of hands-on incorporation. Wishing you much success, hope this helps!

Additional Information

We have received many questions from practitioners who are aging or have physical limitations and are unsure if they can even perform cupping therapy. While there is a physical aspect involved in any type of cupping therapy, our biggest recommendation is to consider investing in an electronic vacuum therapy machine such as the ones we sell. The machine performs the pumping motions for you, which can greatly reduce the physical demands that cupping puts on your hands and body.

Submit a Question

To submit a question featured on our blog, contact info@massagecupping.com.

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About the Author

Anita J. Shannon has been a licensed massage therapist and licensed cosmetologist since 1983. She specializes in skin care, body treatments, clinical aromatherapy, and various modalities of massage therapy. She has been a national educator since 1990, appearing at numerous national spa and massage conventions each year. For four years, Anita appeared as a co-host on the television program “Health Options Today” with Dr. Mitchell Ghen.

Anita is the founder and director of Advanced Continuing Education (ACE), an NCBTMB CE provider established in 2001. Anita has presented hundreds of workshops on ACE Massage Cupping and MediCupping therapy throughout the US and internationally since 2002. Anita has been published on the subject of cupping therapy in industry publications such as Massage Today, Massage Magazine, and Les Nouvelles Esthetiques. She has published two educational videos on ACE Massage Cupping bodywork, two on MediCupping therapy and one on TheraCupping home care, and is currently writing a book on VacuTherapies. In 2011, Anita was inducted into the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame.

In 2016, Anita opened ACE Institute Online, an online education portal designed to bring cupping therapy training into the digital age. Since its debut in 2016, ACE Institute Online has introduced the revolutionary techniques found in ACE Massage Cupping and MediCupping to over ten thousand students worldwide.