Please learn and follow these safety protocols before attempting facial cupping!
1. Don’t give yourself a hickey:
Cupping can cause petechiae aka a hickey. When cupping on the body, this is a therapeutic response. However, no one wants that on their face.
First, don’t use too much pressure. Glass cups are preferable because you can see inside the cups. You will see the skin lift and can gage pressure of the cupping by amount of the skin bubble inside. A little lift is all you need.
Second, do not press for too long in one place. The longer you hang out in one place, the more likely you are to give yourself a hickey.
Third, do not pluck the cup of the face, instead release the pressure. When you pressure the cup, if you pull it off, you will hear the popping sound. This creates higher pressure which is a higher chance of a hickey.
Last, move on from the area when you see your face getting red. A little redness is an increase in microcirculation (increasing growth factors to the area yay!) or in Chinese Medicine – releasing trapped heat. This is good. However, you can give yourself a hickey or petechiae if you continue to go over an area too many times. Less is more.
2. DON’T SUCTION YOUR EYES.
Yes I’m yelling – this is important!! You never ever ever want to suction your eyes. This includes everything within the orbital rim. The orbital rim is the black area in a skull where the eyes would be which is the socket that holds the eyeball. This means you don’t want to cup directly below the eyes which includes the lower lids where you get puffy eyes and the upper lids. If you want to treat puffy eyes, use a facial teishin beauty wand or gua sha gently. But never ever a use a facial cup around the eyes.
3. DON’T DO SLIDING CUPPING DOWN THE NECK.
Yes, I’m yelling again. This one is the most serious. We have major arteries and veins which are nice enough to send blood to our head and return it to our heart. However those arteries in particular are prone to get plaques. Plaques can live without rupturing our entire lives. But if you do sliding cupping over those plaques on your neck, you might dislodge it which can lead to a stroke. That’s beyond serious. The solution is so simple. Instead of sliding cupping, press and release on the neck. I bring these up because it’s so easy to do this treatment safely and the risks are serious if you don’t follow these simple rules. PS your acupuncturist might do sliding cupping on your neck but that’s because they are trained exactly where to avoid. Leave this to the pros.