The Art of Cupping Therapy

The cupping therapy has been used in China for thousands of years. The cupping therapy in its primitive form using cattle horn was used primarily to withdraw pus and blood in the treatment of boils. Cupping was then used as an auxiliary method in traditional Chinese surgery, and in time developed into a special therapeutic method.

 The Ridiculous And Possibly Harmful Practice Of Cupping

Cupping is ridiculous. There's no scientific or medical evidence that it provides any benefit, and it clearly carries some risk of harm. A recent review in a journal dedicated to alternative medicine–one of the friendliest possible venues for this kind of pseudoscience–concluded that "No explicit recommendation for or against the use of cupping for athletes can be made. More studies are necessary."

The exercise “recovery” industry is largely bogus

Christie Aschwanden investigated the sports recovery market and found you don’t need sports drinks, cupping, or ice baths.

Can Hickeys Give You the Same Therapeutic Effects As Cupping?

Anyone who has seen Olympic athletes covered in purple spots is familiar with the effects of cupping, a form of alternative medicine that uses suction to mobilize blood flow. We asked experts if you could just have a friend suck on your back for the...

Cupping at the Olympics – what is it and why do athletes use it?

Essentially there are two types: dry and wet cupping. Dry cupping involves a warm cup being placed over the skin. As the air in the cup cools it creates a suction effect which draws in the skin as the cup is placed on it. The suction is usually strong enough to create a haematoma, a swelling of blood within the tissues that is much larger than a normal bruise. As the cup normally has a circular shape, the haematoma is circular as well.

Is 'cupping' a miracle cure or the silliest celebrity health fad ever?

In his book Trick Or Treatment? Alternative Medicine On Trial, he found that despite cupping’s long history, the only controlled trial on this treatment showed no reduction in pain. He added that the fact the skin appears to be sucked into the cup as if ‘by magic’ means cupping is likely to generate an ‘above-average placebo response’. Put simply, people are fooled by the seeming wizardry of the suction action into thinking that cupping must be doing something for them. Professor Ernst says: ‘There is no good evidence that cupping helps any condition — except the dreaded condition of celebrities craving attention.’

Olympians Seem To Love It, But Is Cupping Scientifically Proven To Help With Sports Recovery?

Cupping is an ancient vacuum pressure technique. Its reports stretch back thousands of years from sources as varied as Egypt, China and Iran to Arabia (where it's called Hijama), to Europe, Korea and even Mongolia. It continues to exist outside mainstream medicine the world over...

Please, Michael Phelps, Stop Cupping

The bruises on the swimmer’s body come from a “therapy" intended to improve blood flow. It actually causes blood to clot.

Voodoo Medicine: Time To Stop

Cupping can be traced to ancient Chinese practices used ostensibly to treat a variety of ailments including arthritis and muscle soreness. There is no credible clinical evidence that cupping is anything more than a placebo — or one big hickey — with no medical benefit at all. And consider this question — did you see any of the Chinese athletes doing cupping therapy? Think about it. Perhaps if this ancient Chinese treatment really worked over millennia we might see Chinese athletes partaking of its benefits?

What Are the Purple Dots on Michael Phelps? Cupping Has an Olympic Moment

While it may look like Phelps and several other Olympians with those skin marks have been in a bar fight, the telltale dots actually are signs of “cupping,” an ancient Chinese healing practice that is experiencing an Olympic moment.

What exactly is cupping?

According to its advocates, cupping is supposed to promote healing and has been used extensively for sore muscles. But that’s only the beginning...