What Is Cupping Therapy, and Does It Hurt?

Cupping therapy is a traditional bodywork practice in which cups are placed on the skin and the air inside them is removed, creating suction that pulls the skin and the muscle beneath it upward. It's the reverse of a massage stroke: hands push tissue toward the bone, a cup draws it away. Today it's used mostly for relaxation and muscle tension.

The practice has old roots. The NCCIH's overview of traditional Chinese medicine describes the tradition cupping grew up in, the same one that produced acupuncture and tai chi, and the NCCIH's cupping page notes that the cups can be glass, ceramic, bamboo or plastic. The material matters little; the seal is everything.

At Tao Spa the answer to what is cupping therapy is narrower. It's a 15-minute line in the Specialty Massage section of both menus, dry cupping only, which means the suction comes from a pump and the skin is never pierced. Most guests attach it to a 60-minute massage; the Glenside cupping page and the Spring House cupping page cover how each storefront books it.

No, cupping shouldn't hurt. What you feel is a pulling sensation, the opposite of massage pressure: a firm, steady tug on the skin that most guests describe as strange for the first half minute and then relaxing. The suction is set low on the first cup as a test and raised only if you ask, and a cup that feels too strong comes off in a second.

The marks are what make people assume otherwise: the color is suction drawing blood toward the surface, not an injury, and most guests report mild tenderness at most the next day. The NCCIH cupping fact sheet lists skin discoloration and mild discomfort as the common side effects, with burns and infection as rare ones tied to flames and reused equipment, neither of which applies to pump suction and a sanitized set per guest. What the circles are and how many days they take to fade is covered in the cupping marks guide.

Usually less. Deep tissue work concentrates force through a thumb or an elbow into one spot; a cup spreads its pull around the whole rim and never pushes toward bone. Guests who find firm pressure hard to tolerate often find cupping easier, which is why it pairs as comfortably with the 60-minute Therapeutic Massage as with the 90-minute Deep Tissue Massage.

A stationary cup stays on for about 5 to 10 minutes. Inside our 15-minute add-on that means one round of placements, usually 4 to 8 cups across the upper back and shoulder line, set in the first couple of minutes and lifted before the last. Gliding cups don't sit at all; they move along the muscle for a few minutes and come off without leaving rings.

Longer isn't better. Cup time and suction strength are the two things that decide how dark the marks come out, so a therapist who wants light marks shortens the time rather than loosening the seal. New to cupping? Expect the shorter end of the range on a first visit. The fade window for each cup time is tabulated in the cupping marks guide.

The add-on is 15 minutes on top of whatever massage it follows, so a 60-minute Therapeutic Massage with cupping is a 75-minute appointment and a 90-minute Deep Tissue Massage with cupping is 105. Booked alone it's a 15-minute visit plus a short intake, so it fits same-day gaps: Glenside is open 9 AM to 9 PM daily, Spring House 10 AM to 9 PM except Tuesday.

Dry cupping only, at both locations. Dry means the suction comes from a pump drawing air out of a glass or silicone cup; the skin is never cut or pierced, and nothing leaves the body. Wet cupping nicks the skin so that blood flows into the cup, and fire cupping uses a flame to heat the air before the cup is placed. We offer neither.

The distinction matters more for safety than for feel. The NCCIH singles out two risks: burns, which come from flame, and bloodborne infection from equipment reused without sterilization. Pump suction removes the first and a sanitized cup set per guest removes the second; you're welcome to ask to see the set before it goes on.

Foot cupping isn't something we offer at either location. A sole is small, curved and thick-skinned, a poor fit for a cup that needs a flat seal, and feet are better served by hands. The foot bookings are Reflexology, 30 or 60 minutes, and the 15-minute Spa Pedi add-on; the Glenside reflexology page and the Spring House reflexology page describe both.

The 60-minute Reflexology at Glenside includes an herbal foot bath; the Spa Pedi includes no polish or color.