This year’s Olympics are now in full
swing and it’s all eyes on the athletes.
From
archery and shooting to athletics and gymnastics, there’s all kind of sports
taking place across Paris, France, at the moment.
One
fan-favorite sport to watch is the swimming, and this year there’s a
whopping 854 athletes from 187 different countries competing.
But
there’s a common theme you might have spotted with some of the swimmers and
that’s the unusual dark red circles they have on their backs.
While
it might look like they’ve had a fight with an octopus and lost,
there’s a very different reason for the odd markings.
It
turns out that the large spots are from cupping therapy – an ancient healing
technique that involves placing cups on the skin to create suction and increase
blood flow to the area.
The
unconventional method is supposed to help with muscle recovery and is used as a
type of deep tissue massage.
Some
athletes were spotted with cupping therapy bruises back at the Rio Olympics in 2016, and it’s
still seemingly popular now.
Gymnast
Alexander Naddour told USA Today back in 2016 that cupping was supposedly the
‘secret’ to his health.
He
added: “It’s been better than any money I’ve spent on anything else.”
Away
from the Games, basketball player Kyle Singler has also praised
cupping therapy.
“The
bruises do look more intense than what they actually feel like, but the benefit
from it is really great,” he previously insisted.
Singler
continued to tell Sports Illustrated: “You’re not necessarily getting
the immediate response that you might want but over time it does help with
recovery and loosening tissue and stuff like that.”
But
does cupping therapy actually work according to experts? It’s seems
as if the jury’s still out.
According
to Harvard Health, some studies have found that cupping might provide some
relief for a number of musculoskeletal and sports-related conditions. The
quality of this evidence was ‘limited’, however.
Elsewhere
a 2022 review found that wet (as opposed to dry cupping) was effective for
lower back pain.
While
the bruises people get from cupping are pretty gnarly, the therapy is generally
seen as safe to practice – even if people aren’t 100 percent on how affective
it is.
“Most
experts agree that cupping is safe. As long as those treated don’t mind the
circular discolorations (which fade over a number of days or weeks), side
effects tend to be limited to the pinch experienced during skin suction,”
Harvard Health explains.
“It’s
quite unusual that cupping causes any serious problems (though, rarely, skin
infections have been reported).”
There
you have it, folks.
