Nan Mah in the News
Sucks Appeal
The ancient Chinese
practice of cupping is getting a Hollywood boost, and local practitioners
claim it can cure everything from backaches to asthma. by
Carolin Vesley
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow
set tongues wagging when she showed up at a New York file premiere
in a strapless top revaling a back that appeared to be covered
with monster hickeys. Hollywood's favorite fashion statement.
Try ancient Chinese secret.
Paltrow's polka dots were caused by cupping, an Eastern healing
therapy that uses suction to draw out impurities, boost circulation
and reduce pain and illness.
Practitioners attach cups- made of glass, plastic or (originally)
bamboo - to specific parts of the body. Skin is sucked into the
cup as blood rushes up.
While it may raise eyebrows among the uninitiated - especially
for the love-bit bruises it leaves behind - cupping has been used
for nearly 3,000 years to treat everything from chronic backache
to asthma and even the common cold.
Is is to oriental medicine what Tylenol is to the western world.
But you don't have to visit the Orient, or Hollywood, to experience
the ancient practice said to stimulate the flow of blood and life
energy in the buy - and subsequently reduce pain and illness.
They may not be wearing their welts with Paltrow's public pride,
but a growing number of Winnipeggers are getting cupped, according
to local practitioners.
Nan Mah, TCM doctor and owner of Nan Acupuncture Therapy Centre
(1369 McPhillips St.) says certain patients may need a series
of treatments
"It depends on energy level," she says. "With some
people, you try one treatment and they feel like a million bucks.
Some take three or four times to feel different. Older people,
their energy level may be lower and they need time to heal."
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