Hi Emily,
I have combined the two for many years- I just do the cupping first OR I needle around the cups I tend to avoid needling then cupping because of the increased likelihood of drawing some blood out. I have never had a response like you describe and not really sure why it would have happened as a direct result of adding the cupping. the distal swelling is the interesting part of it and then traveling proximally. the good news is she is ok so I would stick with cupping first or needling around cups and avoid cupping after needling.
