I've recently been back to The Massage Training School in Exmouth for another day of learning with RockTape, and I'm really pleased to now be able to offer RockPods as part of my soft tissue treatments.
What are RockPods?
RockPods are a medical grade silicone cup, a tool designed by RockTape that can be used to manipulate fascia when applied to the body. When applied the suction creates a decompression that loosens and lifts the connective tissue and stimulates the body's natural healing process to help treat pain, relieve tension and calm the nervous system.
Cupping has been around for thousands of years, it leaves painless red/brown circles on the body, they fade but can last for up to 2 weeks. These circles are often mistaken for bruises, they are not bruises, a bruise is a result of an acute trauma to the soft tissue, the circle from cupping is the result of blood vessels releasing blood under the skin as a result of the suction. There may also be a redness around the cupped area this is a histamine response and is the bodies natural healing response, this redness around the cupped area usually disappears within minutes to hours after the treatment, some peoples histamine response is stronger than others.
Possible effects of cupping:
Mechanical effects - cupping decompresses the tissues creating space allowing the tissues to glide with more ease.
Fluid dynamics - the space created from the decompression of the tissues allows for fluid content in the tissue to be effected, which could also help improve blood and lymph flow.
Chemical effects - the cupped tissues bleed just below the surface of the skin due to the negative pressure created, this bleeding is a release of hemoproteins which contain heme. Heme is important for healing, the release of heme triggers hemeoxygenase to digest excessive amounts of heme, as this reaction takes place, carbon monoxide, biliverdin, bilirubin and iron are released, these molecules have been found to have a positive effect on pain and inflammation, and also could explain the difference in colour in the cupped area of the skin. The redness around the cup is the histamine response from the body, again this is a natural healing process from the body.
Neural effects - sensory stimulation when decompressing the tissues can have a positive response with pain in an area being eased, which can also allow a window of opportunity for the tissues to function as they should helping to rewire the motor pattern for that particular area of the body encouraging more efficient movement patterns and improving awareness to the particular area of the body.
Hopefully this has helped you understand a little more about the potential benefits of cupping, if you'd like to give them a try in your next soft tissue treatment don't delay contact me here to get yourself booked in.
