At Pure Therapy, infrared sauna is scheduled before cupping—not afterward. Cupping creates temporary suction-related changes in the skin and superficial tissue, and the treated area can be more sensitive for a period afterward. For comfort and appropriate aftercare, it is best to complete infrared heat therapy first, then move into cupping and bodywork.
What Cupping Does to Tissue
Cupping uses gentle suction to lift the skin and underlying soft tissue. It can leave temporary circular marks, redness, warmth, tenderness, or mild bruising-like discoloration. These marks are a normal response to suction for many people, but they also indicate that the tissue has been actively worked and benefits from time to settle.
Because of this, aftercare generally recommends avoiding additional intensity immediately following a cupping session—including saunas, steam rooms, hot tubs, hot baths, and other forms of prolonged or extreme heat, or cold.
Why Heat Comes First
Infrared sauna increases body temperature and promotes sweating. Used before cupping, it gives the body time to warm up, relax, and transition into hands-on work.
Used after cupping, however, additional heat can be unnecessarily intense for freshly treated tissue. It may:
- Increase warmth, redness, and sensitivity in areas that have just been cupped
- Make temporary cup marks or bruising-like discoloration appear more pronounced
- Increase tenderness in tissue that has already received focused suction and bodywork
- Add to fluid loss through sweating, especially following a longer treatment
- Leave some clients feeling overheated, lightheaded, fatigued, or less comfortable after their appointment
Starting with the sauna allows you to enjoy the warmth before your bodywork, without adding more heat to skin and tissue that has already been worked.
The Pure Therapy Sequence
When chosen, your session begins with infrared sauna time to warm the body before hands-on work. Afterward, you may use our rainfall shower to rinse off and transition comfortably into your bodywork session.