Detox Massage at Rancho La Puerta

The Cupping Detox Massage at Rancho La Puerta uses soft silicone cups to help restore muscles and detox your body.

After several morning hikes at The Ranch, I decided to treat myself to a hydrating and muscle relaxing Detox Massage. The Detox Massage uses a non-marking form of cupping to stimulate circulation and promote healthy skin. I was nervous to try this treatment. I didn’t want to look like Michael Phelps, who had circular bruises from a cupping treatment he received prior to competing at the Olympics. Michael had used a heat or vacuum pump based technique where glass cups were either heated or pumped with air to create suction on his skin.  The strong suction is supposed to help circulation and ease muscle pain, but it leaves a calling card of bruises that look like giant hickeys.

The Ranch’s Detox Massage uses flexible silicone cups and mother of pearl oil for a much milder and non-marking form of cupping.   You can have a more aggressive cupping from The Ranch’s chiropractor. The masseuses practice massage cupping, which is also known as gliding cupping or  moving cupping, because the silicone cup gently glides across the skin instead of staying in one place.

Lying face down on a massage table, the Masseuse waved the sweet scent of mother of pearl oil in front of my face, which signaled that it was time to relax and have a wonderful treatment. After a gentle scalp rub and applying soft pressure down my back to my feet she began the cupping process. She gently massaged and worked the hydrating oil across my skin to help the cups glide easily.

The cups are made from a soft silicone and the suction is created as the masseuse gives them a gentle squeeze, which forces out the air. I learned from Spa Manager Tere Ochoa that cupping opens the lymphatic vessels which increases lymphatic flow, and boosts the immune system. Cupping acts like a vacuum that pulls toxins from the skin, and helps fluids move along the lymphatic system.

Once my back was complete, my Masseuse focused on the front, working her way from my feet to my head.  Small and very gentle cups were used on my temple and cheeks. The cups felt soft on my cheeks forehead, and slightly tickled.

Read more about this and other treatments offered at Rancho La Puerta