Treating yourself to a massage is supposed to be a relaxing experience.
But a pampering session turned out to be anything but soothing for one man who emerged with what looked like horrific circular burns all over his back after popping into a local massage parlour.
Peter Weston from Liverpool shared images of his post-treatment back on Facebook, explaining, ‘Just been for a massage and ended up getting a thing called CUPPING. F*** me never again.’
He added: ‘I’ll never get it done again I was in that much pain.’
The process dates back to Egyptian, Chinese, and Middle Eastern cultures and works by applying glass cups to the skin along the meridians of the body, creating suction as a way of stimulating the flow of energy.
Peter Weston from Liverpool shared a shocking image on Facebook, revealing how he’d been left covered in red and purple marks after being given a cupping treatment instead of a massage
Peter took to Facebook to reveal his horror at being left covered in red and purple bruises
Facebook friends reassured Peter that he would feel great once the pain died down, with one telling him: ‘I get this done all the time it’s amazing – you’re gonna feel boss.
‘All the darker ones are where you had the most s*** coming out of you! That’s all the bad toxins in your body.’
Recently, Leicester-based massage therapist and healer Hitesth Patel revealed how the process of gua sha, which is similar to cupping, can also leave alarming marks that look like injuries.
He shared an image of client Grace Campbell on Facebook, explaining that working as a hairdresser, hunching in awkward positions as she cuts clients’ hair all day, left her with tight muscles.
He explained to Femail that giving Grace a therapy called gua sha released ‘stagnation’ in the muscles which appeared on the skin as red marks known as petechiae.
‘With a job that involves holding a static position for a long time you build up stagnation in the blood flow which accumulates in muscle and causes pain,’ Hitesh explained.
‘Through gua sha the body releases the stagnated tissue stored in the muscles. The red marks indicate where the damaged tissue is.
‘We can massage her body accordingly, giving her a full release which in turn gives her mobility and flexibility back in the affected area.’
Petechiae look like a rash or bruising but are in fact blood cells that have been pressed out of the capillaries during the process.
As the body starts to reabsorb them, it improves circulation and creates an anti-inflammatory effect.
Leicester-based massage therapist and healer Hitesth Patel shared this image of client Grace Campbell on Facebook, explaining that she’s suffered blood stagnation due to her job as a hairdresser
‘Depending on how damaged that area is it can go from a light pink colour to very dark black purple colour,’ Hitesh explained.
‘Light pink indicates just every day fatigue, red marks show little bit more tiredness and damage.
‘When it goes purple and black indicate old very stagnant stubborn double inch which might take a little bit longer to deal with.’
Grace is one of several hairdresser clients who see Hitesh, while professionals who also stand in awkward positions all day such as dentists and mechanics can also benefit from the treatment.
‘The treatment that Grace had released all that stagnation giving her mobility and reducing pain and inflammation.
Hitesh’ post about Grace has certainly caught people’s imagination and has been shared 20,000 times since he shared it.
Another hairdresser client of Hitesth Patel’s after having gua sha treatment to release stagnation caused by hunching in awkward positions all day