Cupping Therapy with Breast Lifts or Tummy Tucks

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

I have been working with several clients who have had tummy tucks many years after having a C-section. If I understand in the tummy tuck the tissue is separated from the body and pulled down and excess skin removed. Then, the client wears the body garment to reattach the skin to the abdomen. What precautions should be used with these individuals? Is the skin compromised in any fashion? Could cupping detach or loosen the skin in any way?

What about with breast lifts? Are there any concerns there? Could the scars in the breast lift be serving the purpose of holding up the breast tissue? I feel comfortable working with the reductions and softening the scars.

Answer

Just as with any post-surgical application, unless you have a doctor’s consent, it’s usually best to wait four to six weeks to begin with very light applications. This is just as they are recommended to receive lymph drainage post-surgery. The only time you should increase suction should be as the tissue receives this gentle work comfortably, and even then nothing adhesive is necessary. Yes, string suction can damage new scar tissue, but cumulative, regular cup work at this point will learn scar tissue from forming in the first place. Rather, it will encourage good tissue connection.

The same thought process should be used for breast-lifting care. In fact, this can probably be said for any initial application of post-surgical cupping therapy treatments.

Additionally, the bifurcated suction and release a few weeks after you start that initial post-surgical care will help to maintain the tissue’s position, as well as the health of mammary tissue.

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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.