For more about fire cupping, please check out our dedicated post on that topic. Below are the details of our current cupping special to give you even one more reason to pick up the phone and make a cupping treatment appointment!

Cupping can help you feel better, lose weight and look younger! Call EMC today for special rates and packages.

Weight Loss/Cellulite/Skin-tightening Cupping Special!
Cupping will increase local and whole-body circulation on all the trouble spots in your body … and much more. For a limited time, cupping treatments are only:

• $300 for a 10-treatment discount package
• $40 for a single treatment

Check out Cosmetic Acupuncture and Cupping for Weight Loss
Using the secrets of the Mei Zen Cosmetic Acupuncture system, we can help you lose inches off your waist naturally!

This special includes acupressure, cupping in all the trouble areas and Mei Zen Cosmetic Acupuncture all together for an amazing treatment.

For pricing on this special offer, please call Eastern Medical Center at (925) 847-8889. We are happy to answer all your questions and are excited to help you feel better and look your best with cosmetic acupuncture and cupping!

Acupuncture, acupressure and cupping are some of your most powerful tools in keeping toxins going out and nutrients coming in with the proper healthy flow. These treatments activate the body’s healthy energy and entice more toxins to move out. Our acupuncture and acupressure treatments have a lymph drainage function to assist in good flow. When proper flow is restored, any symptoms you’re experiencing will go away.

Studies have shown that toxins will actually leave through the acupuncture meridians stimulated during treatment. And anyone who has received acupuncture knows what it feels like to have a point with a lot of blockage stimulated, where the circulation starts moving better. When a more serious lymphatic issue is present, I will work on particular channels such as the spleen and stomach channels to help the body recover.

Because the lymphatic system doesn’t have its own pump (like the heart), cupping is particularly effective in inducing the proper flow. The suctioning affect cupping creates forces the movement the lymphatic system needs to clean out toxins. It’s like clearing a traffic jam that bogged down the body. Cupping can be used on the arms, shoulders, back, legs and even stomach to compel energy to move and force out stuck toxins. Cupping is also a fantastic alternative for anyone who is squeamish about being poked with needles during acupuncture.

All of these techniques help the whole body to feel better, more relaxed and better balanced. When everything starts flowing well, you feel stronger, more centered and more alive.

If you know your body could use a little help or you could really use some calming, balancing and relaxation, now is a perfect time to come in to Eastern Medical Center. We’re currently running a cupping special and offer acupuncture treatment packages. Please call (925) 847-8889 for more information or to schedule an appointment.

The lymphatic system, which is closely linked with the immune system, helps to clear the body of harmful metabolic waste products, foreign material and cell debris. But if there are too many accumulated toxins in the body, overwhelm the lymphatic system and affect lymph flow … which makes eliminating more of those toxins increasingly difficult. It’s a vicious cycle that can result in a range of health concerns including poor circulation, varicose veins, hormonal imbalances and enlargement of the heart and spleen. Those conditions then further slow blood circulation to and from the organs of the digestive system, which can stress the heart and raise of blood pressure. It’s a domino affect of a most unfortunate kind.

It all starts with having so many toxins in the system that the body isn’t able to clear itself out and do what it naturally wants to do.

What Causes Poor Lymph Flow & How Can You Prevent It?

There are many reasons a person could have a buildup of toxins in the body, ranging from a conscious choice such as poor eating habits to an unknown food allergy that’s having a toxic impact on the system to drinking unfiltered water over time from a source containing small amounts of chemicals. When those problem areas are not countered by positive activities and choices such as regular exercise, the toxins build up and begin to hurt the body. When that happens everything starts to become “high.” It could be high blood pressure or high cholesterol or high anxiety levels. And just as it took time for these toxins to accumulate to the point of health problems, it will take doing little things every day to get those toxins cleared out of the body:

• Drink good, alkalized water.
• Regularly exercise.
• Eat less acidic foods.
• Cut out junk and fast foods and eat healthy, well-balanced meals (local and organic when possible).
• Help your body relax and reduce stress (meditation, deep breathing, Qigong, yoga, peaceful walks — whatever you love that calms you).
• Get acupuncture, acupressure and cupping treatments for healthy energy flow and body functions

All of these things literally change your body chemistry and help things get moving in the right direction.

I have alkalized water available at Eastern Medical Center for patients to drink and feel the difference. The pH of the water in the waiting room is 8.0, which helps reduce the acidity in the body and retain good minerals. Water of pH level 9.0 and above is available on request.

In Part II of this post, I’ll talk about why acupuncture, acupressure and cupping are some of your most powerful resources for preventing and recovering from toxic buildup and lymphatic issues.

Fortunately for them, they have a whole staff of physicians and practitioners taking care of them and keeping them in peak performing condition — including acupuncturists.

Acupuncture, acupressure and cupping already have a long history of helping Olympic athletes reach the best possible conditioning pre-Olympics and pre-event, as well as helping them recover faster and feel better following rugged competition.

As described in the AP article, Athletes in Nagano Using Acupuncture to Cure Their Ills, Canadian speedskater Kevin Overland used acupuncture to recover from an injured hip and went home with a bronze medal. Hockey superstar Jaromir Jagr was able to overcome chronic groin injuries in time to represent the Czech Republic in Japan. The list goes on and on.

Athletes utilizing acupuncture recover from soreness and fatigue faster, feel stronger, are less emotionally stressed and feel more balanced, just to name a few benefits. Focus and balance (both energetically and physically) are as important and physical performance in so many Olympic sports.

Acupuncture & The Beijing Olympic Games

Chinese Olympic swimmer Wang Qun warms up for a race following a cupping treatment.

Acupuncture was highlighted prominently during NBC’s coverage of the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. That was in part because of how totally integrated sports medicine and acupuncture are for that host nation and in part because acupuncture was offered free to athletes and officials in the Olympic Village throughout the Games.

NBC’s Olympic coverage that summer also featured the well-documented story of New York Times reporter James Reston, who in 1971 was in China for President Nixon’s famous trip and while there needed an emergency appendectomy. For his post-operative pain he received acupuncture rather than intense painkillers, which was a revelation for Reston in its approach and effectiveness. Once Reston returned to the States, he wrote in The Times about his experiences, and that reporting became one of the primary gateways for acupuncture into Western society.

Now the presence of acupuncture is being felt across Canada as part of host Vancouver’s Winter Games. Photos are popping up on Flickr and articles are being written for local and national publications with athletes raving about the benefits of acupuncture treatments. Let’s hope that “The True North Strong and Free” is feeling the positive effects of acupuncture long after the Games leave.

Dr. Oz calls fire cupping one of his "Ultimate Alternative Medicine Secrets on "The Dr. Oz Show."

In celebration of this great new public recognition and the Valentine’s Day holiday, Eastern Medical Center is offering fire cupping FREE with acupuncture or acupressure from Feb. 15-19. The timing works out nicely because it’s the heart—the symbol of Valentine’s Day—that is pumping the blood throughout the body. But as blockage builds up in the body, the heart can use a little help to properly circulate the blood through the body. That’s where fire cupping comes in.

What to Expect with Fire Cupping

You’ll be resting comfortably face down with your back exposed. I’ll place the cups on your back and leave them for just 5-15 minutes. When I release the cups, you’ll feel surprisingly relaxed and refreshed. Tight muscles calm. Pain subsides. Stiffness releases. All in just a few minutes.

It’s called “fire” cupping because I use heat to suck out the oxygen from the cups before putting them on your back. The easiest way to think of it is like a reverse massage: Rather than pushing down on your muscles, it’s pulling up from the suction.

The Benefits of Fire Cupping

Fire cupping is tremendous for relieving back pain, shoulder pain, neck pain and really muscle stiffness in any part of the body. I have seen multiple patients come in to Eastern Medical Center with a totally stiff back—so stiff that he or she couldn’t bend forward. That’s built-up stagnation in the body. With just five minutes of cupping, that back stiff like a board relaxed and could move in ways with flexibility that person hadn’t experienced for years! And the relaxation of those muscles made that person a great candidate for acupressure treatment to keep things trending in the right direction.

Have tight shoulders from sitting at the computer all day? Knotted up like crazy from work-related stress? Dealing with nagging pains? Cupping gets circulation moving and quickly brings relief. Feel your immune system is depleted from winter colds and flu? Cupping boosts the immune system and can be used as part of a preventative medicine routine to keep your immune system strong and you healthy.

The best gift you can give a loved one (or yourself!) this Valentine’s Day is support in being healthy and feeling great. It’s only when you’re healthy that you can live the life of your dreams. So purchase a gift certificate or treatment session for acupressure or acupuncture and receive all the health benefits of fire cupping at no charge!

One last note: The best compliment someone can give is a referral, so I’d like to take a moment to say thank you so much for all your referrals!