Through either heat or suction, the skin is gently drawn upwards by creating a vacuum in a cup over the target area of the skin. The cup stays in place for five to fifteen minutes. It is to help treat pain, deep scar tissues in the muscles and connective tissue, muscle knots, and swelling.

Massage oil may be applied to create a better seal as well as allow the cups to glide over muscle groups (e.g., trapezius, erectors, latissimus dorsi, etc.) in an act called “moving cupping”. Dark circles may appear where the cups were placed due to rupture of the capillaries just under the skin but are not the same as a bruise caused by blunt-force trauma