My massage therapist tried cupping on me. She was careful but it was painful so couldn’t get it to help.
Make sure the therapist is qualified and has experience.

Yes, cupping is a technique I learned to do in physical therapy and if done right can certainly relief pain. The amount of suction used can be adjusted somewhat. I had it done once for fibro pain and found I was quite sensitive so it had to have less suction
I'd be sure the person doing it is qualified. 😉 And yeah, big red marks... My hubby always teased they looked like hickeys. 💋

Sorry to be back again, but it makes me so cross to read that so many of you have had cupping done and with bad results. Just because the person doing the cuppping is charging you for the exercise, doesn't mean they know anything about the proper and only way to do it. Darlene you said you don't remember oil - well that shows how much your therapist knew about cupping. I learned this technique when I learned Chinese Medicine - in China. I have a Doctorate in Oriental Medicine.
The Chinese only use cupping and dermal hammering together on very healthy patients, and I'm talking labourers who were physically strong but had the need for a deep tissue massage. To actually apply this technique on a chronically ill patient is tantamount to dangerous to say the least, and shows their lack of experience as well as their lack of knowledge as to what cupping does and how it is used. I used it only on strong people with a good constitution, and never left the cup in the one place to leave a red circle!! Horror.
The cup is meant to glide over the skin with the help of the oil on the skin, and to leave it in place without dermal hammering initially is straight out dangerous. Don't ever let that therapist come near you again is my best advice - unless they learn the technique correctly. Cupping and dermal hammering is a technique designed to give a deep massage to tissue or muscle, and can straighten out tight or cramped or knotted muscles or myofacial tissue. Oil is applied to the skin initially, then dermal hammering, then the inverted cup is applied (there are several sizes of cup for different techniques and areas of the body) after the air is burnt out of the cup - this forms a tight grip on the skin. Then the cup is moved slowly over the skin following the direction of the muscle lying underneath the cup - never across it. This gives a deep pull on the muscle and has a marvellous effect on straightening out a lot of common problems, but as with most medical techniques, the skill lies with the therapist - or not.

All I know is I had several hickey
Marks on my back. My skin bruises very easily so always thought the marks were because of that. She was a physio. Don’t remember oil on my back. She was only person to ever do cupping.

Hi, I have used Acupuncture and all of its techniques for many years. Cupping is just one of the techniques used to relieve muscle cramping or tightness or to increase circulation in that area. Have no idea at all why it should leave red circles on you. Maybe the practitioner only had one size cup - there are many, and various size rims as well. Maybe the practitioner wasn't fully knowledgeable on the art of cupping. I have used this technique thousands of times, and never left a mark. Have left redness where the cups were rubbing on the skin - like a deep tissue massage would, but that is all. If it left red rings, then the practitioner was at fault in my humble opinion.
Cupping is a technique where small glass cups are inverted after the air inside them has been burnt off and the cup then applies a vacuum like seal on the skin. The inverted cup is then placed over the area which has been previously applied a liberal coating of oil or some such so that the inverted cup can be moved over the area in question without causing any harm or too much pain.
The only time a cup would be left in the same position would be if there was a haematoma to be broken up or some such obstruction, then dermal hammering would have had to be applied to that area prior to cupping.
I am sorry that you have experienced this at the hands of an amateur, but there are bad practitioners in every field. Cupping and dermal hammering are quite sensational techniques and either or both can and often do cause pain, so the practitioner should be well qualified enough to realise what they are doing. Its like giving a very deep tissue or muscle massage to someone, and you would have to be very careful of what you were doing, and of course mindful of the patient's pain levels at the same time.
I don't think I would have dermal hammering or cupping on my aching muscles - wrong technique. I would use moxa, massage, or even a TENS device with needles or without.
Hope this has helped somewhat.