Pregnancy rumors flew (yet again!) when Jennifer Aniston hit the red carpet in a strapless dress that revealed a series of circular marks across her back—telltale signs that she is undergoing cupping, a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) therapy used to treat, in addition to other health issues, infertility.
What exactly is cupping? Seen on the backs of fellow celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and Victoria Beckham, cupping therapy is a form of TCM that helps to increase overall wellness, according to Natural Health for Fertility.
“Cupping is used to disperse and dispel ‘blood stasis’ or ‘blood stagnation’ in the body,” Tony Burris LAc, an acupuncturist from Eagle, Idaho, explains.
The technique itself involves lighting and then extinguishing a flame inside a cup-shaped glass to create a vacuum. When placed on the skin, the glass becomes a suction cup that pulls at the skin to stimulate blood flow.
“The purple ‘bruises’ that you see after the cupping treatment are the remnants of that stagnation being drawn to the surface, up and out of the body, which is the therapeutic intention,” Burris adds.
TCM practitioners, and other fans of cupping, claim the treatment can help with everything from muscle pain, cellulite, and depression, to respiratory infections and congestion. However, cupping, especially when coupled with acupuncture, can also be used as a treatment for fertility issues, including endometriosis and menstrual irregularities.
According to Burris, “Many women with fertility challenges have blood stagnation as part of their Chinese medicine diagnosis. Blood stagnation occurs quite frequently in the lower abdomen and manifests as endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome, cysts or dysmenorrhea (heavy menstrual bleeding). These are all obstacles to conceiving and must be dealt in order to have the best odds of conceiving. This is where the method of cupping would be used.”
New Hampshire-based acupuncturist and TCM practitioner Paul Mosier, MAOM, Dipl OM, LAc, also recommends cupping for some of his infertility clients.
“Cupping can be very important for fertility because the uterus and ovaries need a fresh supply of clean blood,” he notes. According to Mosier, there are three key ways cupping can help women trying to become pregnant:
Detox: “Momentary suction in specific areas can help to draw old toxins or metabolites out of cells when the body would normally hold on to them. This can promote better and cleaner blood circulation, which in turn produces a better uterine lining for pregnancy,” he describes.
Uterine Health: Cupping can work to break up knotted muscle tissue, which can be helpful for fertility problems related to endometriosis. “Cupping can help to break up tissue that can prevent fresh blood from making it in and around the uterus.” Mosier also adds that cupping can help move blood either to or away from the uterus, should the uterine lining be too thin or thick.
Stress Relief: When trying to conceive starts to become stressful, cupping may be the perfect form of stress relief. “It looks strange, but cupping can actually be very relaxing, and being able to de-stress is essential if you are trying to get pregnant,” he advises.
As for Jennifer Aniston, pregnancy rumors are nothing new for the actress. And who knows? Her use of cupping may be for something as mundane as a cold or a strained back muscle. On the other hand, however, the tabloids are having a field day with this. Mostly the same old “Jen is pregnant and these marks are the proof!” type of thing, but the UK’s Daily Mail actually found one cupping expert willing to say that Jen’s cupping circles actually seem on the mark for fertility treatments.
“From the look of [Aniston], she’s had cupping in the right spots for fertility treatment. The marks are likely to extend right down to her lower back. If the patient is in good health and has a good diet — like Aniston — then cupping fertility treatment can work within about five days. It also complements IVF treatment,” says Saud Hadi, BSc, a TCM practitioner in Manchester, England.
Jen, is there something you want to tell us?
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