The Spa

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Dana Jean

Dirty Pirate Hooker, The Return
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Apr 11, 2006
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My massage therapist suggested it once. She said because the layers of muscles were so tightly locked together, it would help separate them. Well, I trust the professionals. But they're not always right.

It gave me no perceived benefit, and it left dark purple circles all over my back that horrified Grandma.

Not doing that again.
Apparently this is very old medicine. Chinese or Arabic or something. And I guess it is the thing to do. Photos of the Biebs and Gwyneth with their circles from their cuppings.

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Dana Jean

Dirty Pirate Hooker, The Return
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
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I haven't done this. A good, strong massage and maybe hot stones is good enough for me.

I, personally, can't imagine being comfortable being cut or brushed hard enough for something to drain out of me without being under general anesthesia and a doctor's care.:icon_eek:
You don't have to brush hard. It just a soft brushing to help drain toxins into the lymphatic system.

 

skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
15,683
92,168
USA
From a 2010 NYT article on dry brushing:
“It exfoliates and sloughs off dead skin cells,” she said. “The second thing is it gets circulation going, and third, it gets toxins moving out of my body.”

Ah, toxins — that modern-day bugaboo the spa crowd has been attacking with increasing ferocity; first internally, with high colonics and BluePrint juice cleanses, and now externally, with dry brushing, an ancient ritual once done in Japan and Greece. Dry brushing is being promoted by spas and in magazines as a way to purge unwanted substances from skin (along with other benefits: Glamour.com promised a good brushing would render skin “über-touchable” before sex). Some of today’s proponents say skin brushing can eliminate up to a pound of toxins a day.

Such claims irk Dr. Tina S. Alster, a clinical professor of dermatology at Georgetown University Medical Center, who said, exasperated: “It sounds trendy. Everyone wants to flush toxins from their skin. Give the body more credit than that.”

For the record, the liver, not the skin, is the body’s largest eliminator of waste, Dr. Alster said. “Regular environmental exposures and toxins, does your skin eliminate those?” she asked rhetorically. “No, it doesn’t.”

"Dry brushing does get rid of dead skin cells, increase circulation (as a brisk walk would) and help the lymphatic system work better and decrease bloating (as a massage would), Dr. Alster said. However, the grander claims are more suspect.

While Ms. Cilmi, the spa consultant, said body brushing done religiously over time “does definitely reduce the appearance of cellulite,” this is unlikely, said Dr. Carolyn Jacob, a dermatologist in Chicago. Why? Cellulite is a complex problem that involves thin skin and the kind of fibrous bands holding in women’s fat. Dry brushing “won’t change fibrous bands at all,” Dr. Jacob said — a dagger to the hearts of women with cottage-cheese thighs. Twisting the dagger, Dr. Jacob cautioned that avid dry brushers put their skin at risk for inflammation, redness and an eczema-like itchy rash."


I'd be careful, if you're considering it, DJ, and don't expect more than a sloughing of dead outer cells.
 

Dana Jean

Dirty Pirate Hooker, The Return
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
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Even medical places say that lymph is where the body eliminates toxins. So, I believe that part. I think the more we can keep the lymph nodes from swelling with infection, the better off we are. So I get the science behind moving the lymph.

I would do the facial cupping.
 

DiO'Bolic

Not completely obtuse
Nov 14, 2013
22,864
129,998
Poconos, PA
Even medical places say that lymph is where the body eliminates toxins. So, I believe that part. I think the more we can keep the lymph nodes from swelling with infection, the better off we are. So I get the science behind moving the lymph.

I would do the facial cupping.
Consider Reflexology. It doesn't suck as much. :)
 

cat in a bag

Well-Known Member
Aug 28, 2010
12,038
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wyoming
They did the hot cupping thing on The Amazing Race once. It looked awful. The players were in definite pain. And they had terrible purple circles on their backs afterwards. Not one of them enjoyed the experience, if I remember right. Didn't look very therapeutic or relaxing.
 

Dana Jean

Dirty Pirate Hooker, The Return
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
53,634
236,697
The High Seas
They did the hot cupping thing on The Amazing Race once. It looked awful. The players were in definite pain. And they had terrible purple circles on their backs afterwards. Not one of them enjoyed the experience, if I remember right. Didn't look very therapeutic or relaxing.
No, I wouldn't do that.

Leeches help heal skin grafts. And maggots are used to eat necrotic tissue. So, maybe there is something to this cupping. I honestly don't know. But the facial one looks relaxing. I'll try it and report back.