What is this mad craze?
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Maybe science will vindicate this practice years down the road or maybe it will conclusively show that using cupping pre- or post-competition in a sporting event is as superstitious as wearing a lucky bracelet. Phelps is a fan of cupping, which is an alternative therapy technique in which suction cups are placed on the body to lift the skin from the muscle. The marks usually stay for about a week. “People feel the quickest relief when they suffer from acute pain in a muscle or joint, or strains and tensions from sitting too long at work in front of the computer, hunching over a desk, from walking too long in uncomfortable shoes without support, or not being able to keep a good posture during the day”. “It was a little intense at a couple of times, where it got really tight, but once I loosened up, I feel great”. It may also do absolutely nothing at all other than leave you looking like you went several rounds with a lamprey.
One Xinhua journalist, who had the therapy, said it was nearly painless.
Standard cupping involves a glass cup and a flammable substance which heats the cup while it’s on the skin. “It is not unusual to fall asleep when receiving this treatment”.
Another Xinhua journalist who tried said that the feeling was not so much painful as itchy.
“At the beginning, it was like a thousand ants were biting my back”.
While many are skeptical of cupping therapy, claiming its effectiveness lacks scientific evidence, others say it is the secret of their health.
US gymnast Alex Naddour told USA Today that the therapy was “better than anything else I have spent money on”. Drilling said it can help those with colds, flu, diabetes, digestive problems, shingles and menstrual cramps.
The photo of Michael Phelps taking cupping therapy has earned almost 30,000 likes on Instagram. They said that Michael Phelps is likely undergoing emotional stress as well as muscle aches, and that cupping can help with relaxation. “The red marks are due to stagnant blood and fluid that may have been stuck for a long time being brought up by the suction from deep inside the tissue so the body can flush it out”, Granik explains. The darker the mark left by the cup, the poorer the blood circulation is in that part of the body.
Wei Lixin is a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine and a teacher at the Beijing International Acupuncture Center.
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“Ebers Papyrus”, the oldest medical textbook, records the use of cupping in 1500 B.C.in Egypt. Hippocrates used the same therapy for internal medicine.
