Cupping guides
PMS and PMDD: the symptoms in body and mood, why it happens (hormone sensitivity, not hormone levels), how to tell PMS from PMDD, what helps according to research, a symptom calendar, and lymphatic massage and cupping the week before your period
The week before your period you are a different person: swollen, tender breasts, bloated, tired, irritable, low or anxious, with sugar cravings, headache and lower back pain, and then, the day the period comes, it is as if blown away. That is PMS, premenstrual syndrome, and three in four who menstruate recognise some of it. In about one in twenty the mood symptoms are so severe that they knock out work, relationships and daily life for one to two weeks every month: that is PMDD, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, which is a diagnosis in its own right with its own treatment. The cause is not too much or too little hormone but an unusually strong sensitivity in the brain to the normal hormone fluctuations after ovulation. Here are the symptoms, how to tell PMS from PMDD and from depression and thyroid disorder, why a symptom calendar over two months is the most important thing you can do, what actually helps (exercise, sleep, calcium, diet, CBT, SSRIs if needed, the pill for some), what doesn't help, and how lymphatic massage and cupping reduce the swelling, breast tension, back pain and muscle tension on those days.
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Numbness and tingling in the feet and legs: where it is felt and what it means (nerve in the back, nerve in the leg, polyneuropathy, circulation, B12), burning feet, when to seek care, and what helps: exercises, shoes, blood sugar and cupping
The foot falls asleep when you sit with your legs crossed and wakes with pins and needles when you stand up: that is harmless and everyone knows it. But tingling in the feet that comes for no reason, numbness that lingers, a burning feeling under the feet at night, or a feeling of walking on cotton wool or with a sock that isn't there, are signals from the nerves that should be taken seriously and can usually be explained. Where it is felt says a lot: both feet symmetrically and upwards like a sock suggests polyneuropathy (diabetes, B12 deficiency, alcohol, thyroid), a strip down one leg a compressed nerve root in the back (sciatica), only under the forefoot a nerve in the foot (Morton's neuroma, tarsal tunnel), the outside of the thigh a skin nerve in the groin, and cold, pale feet with pain when you walk the circulation. Here is the location map, the causes, the warning signs that need care the same day, the tests to ask for, and what helps: exercises for nerve and back, the right shoes, blood sugar, B12 and alcohol, foot care, and cupping of calves and thighs that improves circulation and releases muscles that compress nerves, but never over skin you can't feel.
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IBS (irritable bowel syndrome): symptoms, how the diagnosis is made and what to rule out, diet that helps (FODMAP done right, fibre, meal rhythm), stress and the gut-brain axis, medicines, and self-care that works: abdominal massage, breathing and cupping
The stomach rumbles, bloats towards evening, alternates between hard and loose, and hurts in a way that eases once you have been to the toilet. You may have seen a doctor, had tests that were normal, and been told it is IBS and that you'll have to learn to live with it. It is true that IBS, irritable bowel syndrome, doesn't show on tests and isn't dangerous. It is not true that nothing helps: a properly done dietary change removes most of the symptoms in three out of four, stress and sleep measures make a difference because gut and brain steer each other, there are medicines for each main symptom, and simple self-care, abdominal massage, deep breathing, walks and cupping of belly and lower back, noticeably calms a restless gut for many. Here is how IBS is recognised, which warning signs are not IBS, how to do FODMAP without ending up on an unsustainable diet, what applies to fibre, coffee and probiotics, how to work with the stress, and a ten-minute daily routine for the gut.
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Restless legs and crawling sensations in the legs: how it feels, causes (iron deficiency, pregnancy, medicines, nerves), how to tell it from cramp, nerve pain and varicose veins, treatment that works, an evening routine, and cupping of the legs
It starts when you sit down on the sofa or lie down in bed: a crawling, tickling, tingling or electric feeling deep inside the calves or thighs, an urge to move the legs, and relief only as long as you move them. Restless legs affects one in ten adults at some point and one in twenty regularly, more often women, more often with age, and it ruins sleep more than it harms the legs. The most common treatable cause is low iron stores in the brain, even when the blood count is normal, and ferritin below 75 is a reason to treat. Other causes are pregnancy, kidney failure, certain antidepressants and antihistamines, nerve damage and alcohol. Here is how to recognise it, how it differs from calf cramp, nerve pain and varicose veins, which tests to ask for, what actually helps (iron, a medication review, movement in the evening, heat, cold, compression, sleep hygiene) and how massage and cupping of calves and thighs in the evening calm the crawling for many.
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Sprained ankle: what to do right away, when to get an X-ray, healing time for grade 1–3, rehab exercises week by week, when you can train again, how to avoid spraining it again, and cupping for swelling and stiffness after the acute phase
The foot rolls on a kerb, on a downhill or on an opponent's foot, it stabs on the outside of the ankle and within half an hour it is swollen. A sprained ankle is the most common injury there is, and almost all sprains are ligaments on the outside that have been stretched or partly torn. They heal well, if you do it right: offload but don't rest too long, cool but not for too long, start moving the foot within a day, rebuild balance and strength instead of just waiting, and know when the foot needs an X-ray. Here is what to do in the first hours, the Ottawa rules for when an X-ray is needed, how long a grade 1, 2 and 3 sprain takes, rehab exercises week by week, when you can run and play again, how to avoid spraining it again (one in three does), and how cupping of the calf and around the ankle after the acute phase helps with the swelling and stiffness.
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Swollen hands and fingers: why they swell in the morning, in the heat, when exercising, from salt, hormones, arthritis, carpal tunnel and lymphoedema – how to tell harmless swelling from the kind to investigate, and what helps: massage and cupping
The ring is stuck in the morning, the fingers feel like sausages when you wake, the hands swell on a long walk or in the sun, and by evening everything is normal again. Swollen hands and fingers are almost always fluid collecting where it collects most easily: in the loose tissue on the back of the hand and around the fingers, when you have lain still, when the blood vessels dilate in heat, when the arms hang down for hours, when you have eaten salt or when hormones hold on to fluid. It goes down with movement, the arms raised and a few days of normal food. But swelling that sits in a joint and is tender, warm and stiff in the morning for over half an hour, swelling in only one hand or arm that doesn't go down, or swelling with numbness and tingling at night, are signs of rheumatic disease, lymphoedema or carpal tunnel syndrome, which should be investigated and treated. Here we go through the causes one by one, how to read your own swelling, when to seek care, and what actually brings the swelling down: fist pumps and arms overhead, less salt, cooling, simple lymphatic massage from the fingers up towards the armpit, and light cupping of forearm and upper arm.
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Hand pain: where does it hurt and what it can be – palm, back of the hand, fingers and thumb – overload, osteoarthritis, trigger finger, carpal tunnel and rheumatism – when to seek care and what helps: offloading, exercises and cupping
The hand has 27 bones, over 30 joints and a network of tendons and nerves controlled from the forearm, and it is used for everything: keyboard, phone, tools, bags, training. Hand pain is therefore common and says different things depending on where it sits: tender, stiff finger joints in the morning are osteoarthritis (end joints) or rheumatism (base joints); a finger that gets stuck bent and snaps is trigger finger; numbness in thumb, index and middle finger at night is carpal tunnel; pain at the base of the thumb when gripping is thumb base osteoarthritis or de Quervain's; sore palms and forearms after a day with the mouse are overload; and a swollen, warm joint can be gout or infection. Here is the map of the hand with what points to what, which signs mean care the same day (injury with deformity, infection, sudden weakness) or within weeks, what the doctor examines, and what helps: offloading the right movement, a splint when needed, hand and finger exercises, heat or cold, ergonomics, and cupping of the forearm muscles and palm, which is often where the tension in the hand comes from.
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Back pain in the morning: why the back is stiff when you wake (sleeping position, mattress, discs, osteoarthritis, inflammation), how to tell harmless stiffness from the kind to investigate, a morning routine, mattress and pillow, and cupping
You wake, roll out of bed in stages, and for the first ten minutes the back is stiff as a board; after the shower and coffee it is gone. Back pain in the morning is extremely common and almost always mechanical: the discs swell with fluid overnight and become stiffer, the muscles have been still for eight hours, the sleeping position or mattress has held the back in a poor position, and with osteoarthritis the joints are at their stiffest after rest. It releases within 30 minutes of movement. But morning stiffness that lasts over an hour, wakes you in the second half of the night, improves with movement and worsens with rest, and began before the age of 45, is the hallmark of inflammatory back disease (ankylosing spondylitis), which many people live with for years before it is detected. Here is the difference, the common causes, a five-minute routine in bed and on the floor that gets you up more supple, how to choose mattress, pillow and sleeping position, what helps in the evening (cupping of lower back and glutes before bed noticeably reduces morning stiffness for many), and when to seek care.
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Pilates for beginners at home: what Pilates does (core, posture, mobility, back), the basics (breathing, neutral spine, centering), 10 exercises step by step, a 20-minute session, common mistakes, Pilates for back pain and after childbirth, and cupping
Pilates is strength training for the core and control for the rest of the body: slow, precise movements that strengthen the deep abdominal and back muscles, pelvic floor and glutes, improve posture and mobility and teach you to use the body without tensing neck and shoulders. It requires only a mat, suits all ages and is one of the best documented methods for long-standing lower back pain. Here is what Pilates is and isn't (not yoga, not stretching, not just ab exercises), the three basics everything builds on (lateral breathing, neutral spine and pelvis, centering), ten beginner exercises step by step with common errors, a 20-minute session to do three times a week, how to adapt for back pain, after childbirth and with neck problems, how Pilates differs from yoga and core training, and how cupping of back, hips and thighs fits in as recovery and to release what restricts movement.
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