Cupping guides

Poor blood circulation: the signs, the common causes, when to seek care, and how to improve your circulation with movement, warmth, habits and cupping

Cold feet, white fingers, heavy legs in the evening, numbness when you sit still, skin that turns mottled: "poor circulation" is one of the most common self-diagnoses, and sometimes it is right. Here we sort out the difference between the harmless (cold hands and feet from constricted surface vessels, sitting still, low blood pressure) and what should be examined (atherosclerosis in the legs with pain on walking, deep vein thrombosis, severe Raynaud's attacks, wounds that don't heal, diabetes), which signs are which, and what actually improves circulation: daily movement and the calf pump, leg strength, warmth from outside and inside, quitting smoking, blood pressure and blood sugar in balance, and cupping as a local, temporary but tangible increase in blood flow in skin and muscle. Including when not to cup.