Get Cupped!

Or don’t. The verdict on it’s healing effects is still out.

Imagine this: a 6’4” Olympian with a body of a god, emerging
from the pool after winning his 19th gold medal … mottled with extraordinary spots.

Specifically, this was Michael Phelps after his win in the men’s 4×100-meter relay at the Rio Olympic Games, rocking circular bruises on his shoulders and back. These spots are the result of cupping — not a lewd sex act, but an ancient Chinese healing practice that’s become popular with athletes both at the games and outside (including Denver Broncos player DeMarcus Ware). Ask anyone with these telltale marks and they will likely gush about the healing benefits of the practice, claiming that it helps them speed up blood flow to the desired area and aid recovery after a hard workout.

The technique starts with placing glass cups on the desired area — think a seamless wine glass afixed with little nipple attachments. The practitioner then uses either heat or an air pump to create suction inside the cup, pulling up the skin from the muscles underneath while also bursting the capillaries and leaving you with giant bruises.

But does it actually do anything to help?

It’s a good question, especially because anything dubbed “Eastern medicine” is (a) regarded skeptically by the Western medical community and/or (b) picked up by Goop-style evangelists as the cure-all, solely because of its non-Western origins. Both feed off each other, especially when there is a limited amount of research on it, like cupping.

In a 2010 review of 550 clinical studies looking at cupping in China, researchers urged more scientific research to support claims that it helps ease pain. Once more, they found no study with a “low risk of bias,” with the majority evaluated as having a “high risk of bias.”

A 2013 study also encouraged more research into the practice due to the relatively small sample size it used to compare cupping to another technique called progressive muscle relaxation.

But what may be the most telling, especially when looking at cupping in sports medicine, was a 2012 exploration of cupping’s effect on those with knee arthritis. While the group that received the cupping treatment had less pain than those who weren’t treated with cupping, the New York Times is quick to point out that it might have been a result of the placebo effect given that those receiving the treatment knew they were doing so.

In short, the science is still out on cupping, or, as I lovingly call them now, hickey marks from the Big Friendly Giant. Tomato, potato.