Cupping or scraping, which one is better for removing dampness

Expert: Neither is good. Eliminating dampness mainly relies on internal treatment.

"The darker the color of the sha pulled out or scraped, the heavier the dampness in the body!"

Removing dampness is the popular understanding of the main function of cupping and scraping. Little do people know that this is a huge misunderstanding! The main function of these two traditional Chinese medicine therapies is not to remove dampness, and the effect of removing dampness is not obvious!

Chinese medicine experts remind us that people in the Lingnan region not only misunderstand cupping and scraping, but also like to talk about "heavy dampness". Physical fatigue, laziness, getting angry, and eczema are all classified as heavy dampness, but this is not necessarily the case.

The purpose of cupping is not to remove dampness

"Cupping can remove dampness and toxins, which is the biggest misunderstanding about this therapy in the market." Zhuang Lixing, director of the Acupuncture Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, told the Xin Kuai Bao reporter that in Chinese medicine diagnosis, the principle of cupping is: through the squeezing effect of physical negative pressure, blood vessels are caused to rupture and bleed, and blood penetrates into local tissues to unblock stagnation and achieve the effect of regulating the body's balance. Its main function is not to remove dampness, but to dredge the meridians and activate the collaterals, promote qi and blood circulation, reduce swelling and relieve pain, dispel wind and cold, and detoxify. Therefore, cupping is often used to treat diseases related to meridian blockage, such as irregular menstruation, neck, shoulder, waist and leg pain, etc. At the same time, cupping also has the function of "purging fire" and is often used to treat various solid diseases, including heat and cold.

The purpose of scraping is not to remove dampness

The principles of scraping and cupping are similar, and the same principle applies to "scraping out sha". Through treatment on meridians and acupoints, it has a good effect on fever, heatstroke, colds and other solid diseases, and can also effectively relieve heat symptoms such as getting angry. In comparison, scraping works on the shallow part, while cupping works on the deeper part; and scraping can only be used on people with solid diseases or fever symptoms. It is not recommended for the elderly, children, and the weak, and is prohibited for pregnant women.

Eliminating dampness mainly relies on internal treatment, first eliminating dampness and then regulating the spleen and stomach

Many people think that cupping can quickly remove moisture, but in fact it cannot achieve the expected effect.

"The essence of 'dampness' in traditional Chinese medicine is water." Zhuang Lixing said that dampness is mainly discharged through urination, defecation and sweat. Although the main purpose of cupping and scraping is not to remove dampness, they do "draw" out some tissue fluid and have a certain effect in removing dampness. However, since not much water comes out, the dehumidifying effect is actually very limited. Cupping is relatively better, while scraping has almost no effect in removing dampness.

"Eliminating dampness mainly relies on internal treatment rather than external treatment." Zhuang Lixing said that patients with heavy dampness must first identify the type of dampness, and then use diuretic drugs to relieve surface symptoms. Since the fundamental cause of heavy dampness is insufficient spleen and stomach function, after removing dampness, you also have to regulate the spleen and stomach to fundamentally improve your physical condition.

Typical symptoms of dampness

Thick white tongue coating, thick yellow tongue coating, sticky mouth, loss of appetite, indigestion, fatigue, muscle aches, sticky stools, etc.

The darker the cupping color, the heavier the moisture?

It's all legend! The color is related to blood and cupping strength

If the main function of cupping and scraping is not to remove dampness, then why is the color of the "sha" different, some darker, some lighter, some red, and some purple? Zhuang Lixing said that it is actually very simple to explain this.

First of all, different people have different blood colors and skin colors, so the color of the "sha" that comes out will naturally be different. Secondly, the depth of the color of the sha is also related to the negative pressure of cupping. For example, in addition to fire cupping, Chinese medicine cupping also uses bamboo cups, vacuum cups, etc. Among them, bamboo cupping deoxygenates in water, which does not have the same temperature as fire cupping, and the exhaust pressure is relatively small. It is not only inconvenient to operate, but also not powerful enough, and the color of the sha tends to be lighter.