Erin Seils|
The 2016 Rio Olympics are now over and Britain has walked away with an astounding 67 medals, 27 of these being gold, coming second on the medal table. GB’s Adam Peaty I(Men’s 100m Breaststroke swimmer) even managed to surpass the world record by almost half a second in a heat and went on to earn a gold medal in the final.
However, gold medals weren’t the only thing on Olympic enthusiasts minds. Dark red circles have been spotted on many athletes’ backs and shoulders, especially swimmers. Many people have been trying to figure out what these red splotches are, with one twitter user, known as Above Average on the site, suggesting that Michael Phelps may have just fallen asleep on his medals!
So what are these bruise-like marks? There are two versions of the fad procedure which causes these marks. “Wet cupping” is where a small incision is made in the skin and blood is drawn using a vacuum. There is also “dry cupping” where a vacuum is still used but no blood is taken.
It has only become more well-known in the last couple of weeks, after the 2016 Olympians showed their cupping marks in Olympic events and on social media. However, the therapy has been practised for much longer. In fact, some say it was a tradition of the Prophet Muhammad who used cupping over 1400 years ago! Others say that the procedure was used in Ancient Chinese medicine to treat pain, muscle stiffness and respiratory issues.
Cupping seems to have many benefits but it isn’t totally painless. While having the therapy, American swimmer Natalie Coughlin posted a picture on Instagram, captioned,
“Laughing because it hurts so bad. Gonna leave a mark!”.
David Colquhoun, professor of pharmacology at University College London told the Independent:
“There’s no science behind it whatsoever. There’s some vague conceptual connection with acupuncture, and is often sold by the same people. But it’s desperately implausible, how the hell should sucking up a bit of skin in a cup do anything to your athletic performance? If it’s done enough to cause bruising, it is [breaking blood vessels], and that’s not going to help anybody, is it?”
While scientists may say otherwise some athletes say that cupping has greatly improved their performance. Gymnast Alex Naddour told USA Today that cupping has:
“been the secret that I have had through this year that keeps me healthy. It’s been better than any money I’ve spent on anything else”.
