Summary
Erin Holt of The Functional Nutrition Podcast interviews Sakina, an acupuncturist and massage therapist known as "the facial cupping expert." Erin shares that she personally purchased Sakina's course and has been doing facial cupping every night as a result. The episode positions facial cupping as a natural alternative to Botox and fillers, with both host and guest emphasizing informed consent and offering alternatives rather than judging anyone's cosmetic choices. Sakina shares her origin story, starting with treating a Bell's palsy patient in 2011 using small silicone cups she found from South Korea on eBay. She then successfully treated trigeminal neuralgia and realized that if facial cupping could help paralysis patients regain muscle control, it could benefit cosmetic acupuncture clients as well. When COVID lockdowns hit in 2020, she moved her teaching online and created the six-step facial cupping protocol for beginners. The discussion frames facial cupping within the broader context of autoimmunity concerns, noting that injecting antigens into the face carries immune system risks, and positions cupping as a safer alternative that supports the body's natural healing processes.
Key Points
- Facial cupping is positioned as a natural alternative to Botox and fillers with lower immune system risk
- Sakina discovered facial cupping in 2011 treating Bell's palsy with small silicone cups from South Korea
- Successfully used facial cupping for trigeminal neuralgia before applying it to cosmetic treatments
- COVID lockdowns in 2020 led to creating online courses making facial cupping accessible to everyone
- The six-step facial cupping protocol for beginners is designed for daily home use
- Autoimmune considerations make facial cupping appealing since it avoids injecting antigens into the body
- Facial cupping can help with nerve conditions like peripheral neuropathy and paralysis in addition to cosmetic benefits
- Consistency is key; Erin does facial cupping every night as part of her routine
Key Moments
Facial cupping discovered by treating Bell's Palsy with silicone cups
Sakina shares how she discovered facial cupping in 2011 when treating a patient with Bell's Palsy. Unable to use fire cupping on the face, she found small silicone cups from South Korea on eBay and achieved remarkable results by sliding them along facial nerves.
"And Bell policy, which is a paralysis of one side of the face that just comes out of the blue in a way. There is still no explanation for that."
Facial cupping lifts skin layers to move stagnation and restore glow
Sakina explains how facial cupping works as negative pressure that lifts different layers of skin, releasing fascia adhesions and allowing blood, lymph, and energy to flow freely. She notes that even after one session, people who do nothing for their skin will notice a visible glow.
"It also releases the fascia by operating pressure, but facial cupping is like a negative pressure. You lift the different layer of the skin. And what is beautiful in that is like you give some space. A lot of time there is some fascia adhesion, even when we have stress, even we hold tension on our face and that's create what we call in traditional Chinese medicine, stagnation."
Facial cupping takes only five minutes as a daily habit
Erin Holt shares that after taking Sakina's course, she now does facial cupping every night in just five minutes. She contrasts this with Gua Sha, which she could never build into a habit, noting that cupping is simpler with just three techniques following the lymphatic drainage pathway.
"I was just like, this is for the birds. I'm not going to do this. I don't know what I'm doing. And so when I found your course, it gives you an exact step-by-step plan to do. And it's not this big bulky course. Like I got through the course in like a few minutes. It's not a big, huge time investment, but you understand what you're doing. And now I do facial cupping just about every night. And it only takes me five minutes."
