I primarily use cupping to treat certain types of muscular pain, especially back pain, and for the treatment of common colds. The results I have had in treating early stage colds using cupping have been quite remarkable. According to TCM theory, many of the pathogens that cause colds enter into the body through the skin and acupuncture channels of the neck and upper shoulders. Cupping is used to draw these pathogens out through the pores of the skin. This is why your grandma made you put on your scarf during winter; “so you don’t catch a chill.”