If you happened to watch an American swimmer named Michael Phelps and the other American swimmers in the Rio Games win the gold medal in the 4×100-meter swimming relay, you would have noticed the red circle marks on their skin. These are telltale signs of an ancient Chinese healing therapy known as cupping.
Practitioners of this millennia-old healing technique (which can also be self-performed by the athletes themselves) place specially designed cups on the skin. They then either use an air pump or heat to create a suctioning effect between the skin and the cup. The suctioning force pulls the skin towards the cup and away from the muscles under the skin.
Although the procedure usually lasts for only a couple of minutes, it’s good enough time to bring on the rupturing of the capillaries just under the skin surface. This is how the obvious round bruises occur on Phelps and his fellow American swimmers that can even be seen in the members of the US men’s gymnastics team. This bruising is similar to the bruising you can get when one sucks and leaves a hickey on your neck.
Phelps said “Before every meet I participate in, I or my trainer does it (cupping).” “Because I was sore yesterday, I requested for a little cupping and the trainer did the treatment quite hard and these bruises are proof.”
The aim of cupping therapy is to accelerate the healing and relieve the soreness of overworked tired muscles by drawing blood to the ailing area. Those who use it swear by it because they say it speeds up recovery and prevents them from being injured. Several purple marks were seen Phelps’ shoulders. He has actually recently appeared in a video for a sponsor to recommend cupping therapy , whose shoulders were dotted with purple marks as he powered the relay team, featured a cupping treatment in a recent video for a sponsor. Phelps also sent an Instagram photo of swimming teammate Allison Schmitt and himself stretched on a table with a number of cups on the back of his thighs.
Keenan Robinson, Phelps’ personal trainer say that Michael has been doing cupping for about two years now as it makes him feel good psychologically and anything that can make one’s body feel good just as long as it is done through an educated approach, can make a big difference when competing.
It is beyond any doubt that a lot of athletes, trainers, and coaches and trainers believe in cupping and one doesn’t need science to prove whether it produces a placebo effect or provides real positive physiological effects on athletes.
Talking about study, one that was done in 2012 that involved the participation 61 individuals suffering from chronic neck pain tested the effectiveness of cupping over a procedure called PMR (progressive muscle relaxation). The PMR is a technique in which a patient tenses his muscles intentionally and then focuses on relaxing them. Cupping was used by 50 percent of the patients while the other half was told to use PMR. After 12 weeks of therapy, similar amelioration of pain was experienced by both groups. However, the group that used cupping experienced lesser pain when the area was applied with pressure and scored higher on levels of well-being. The researchers, however, suggested more research to determine the other benefits that can be gained from cupping.
One other study, this time with 40 patients suffering from knee arthritis showed that after four months, folks treated with cupping experienced less pain compared to arthritis patients in a control group who did not get treatment. This was not a blind study since the group given cupping therapy knew they were being treated which would not prove whether the effect was genuine or was mainly due to a placebo effect.
Placebo effects are not all that bad, since they can still provide a certain benefit. And even one benefit that can enhance an athlete’s performance may spell the difference between the ecstasy of victory or the agony of defeat in high level competition especially, the Olympics. And if it means showing up with purplish red-bruises on your body, the outcome may be all worth it.
DeMarcus Ware, outside linebacker of the Denver Broncos posted on Instagram a photo of himself showing 19 clear cups on his back with a therapist holding a flame to heat the cup prior to applying it on the skin. Even Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston, and other Hollywood celebrities have photos showing their skin seared with cupping marks.
The sports magazine Swimming World noted a year ago that certain college programs had started the use of cupping therapy. More than a year before Phelps recent cupping revelation, Natalie Coughlin, a former Olympian, posted a number of photos of herself getting cupping therapy.
Mr. Robinson states that scientific studies prove that cupping isn’t detrimental and it does work. He exposes his athletes to the treatment for years so that they may make it a habit.
The coach of Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin, Todd Schmitz said that she (Ms. Franklin) began using cupping when she joined the Cal-Berkeley swim team. He believes that like ice baths, some people believe that cupping serves no purpose whatsoever. But if you find that it helps you, you then integrate it into your repertoire.
A prominent purple dot was also seen on the shoulder US men’s gymnastics member Alexander Naddour while performing his routines on Saturday during the qualifying phase of the competition in Rio. He said his DIY (do-it-yourself) cupping kit was purchased in Amazon.com. He explained that cupping is the secret to what keeps him healthy throughout the year and said, “It was a whole lot better than any money I’ve spent on anything else.”
US swimming team chiropractor, Kevin Rindal, is just one out of the four chiropractors Phelps only trusts in care of his health. According to Kevin, the DIY cupping kit is sold for $30 at Amazon.
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