Penn Experts Explain The Popular Therapeutic Treatment, Cupping
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Lots of talk about those big round bruises on Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps. They're from a therapeutic treatment called cupping, that's become very popular and used to reduce soreness and speed up healing.
Michael Phelps shoulders were dotted with round bruises as he won an Olympic gold medal in the freestyle relay. They're from a therapy called cupping being used by Phelps and other Olympic athletes.
Eric Laudano, the head athletic trainer at Penn, who demonstrated how cupping works, says it's become a common therapy. The skin is sucked into specialized glass. It can also be done with heat. The suction causes capillaries just beneath the surface of the skin to rupture.
"It was originally developed by the Chinese in an effort to take out evil toxins in the body," says Dr. Brian Sennett, chief of Sports Medicine at Penn Medicine. He says cupping works on soft tissue reducing soreness and improving healing by increasing blood flow. He adds, "And we're also potentially removing breakdown products from injury by bringing more blood flow to the area .. someone like Michael Phelps obviously his shoulders are such an important part of his swimming stroke, he probably has some soreness and he's probably done this in the past and found that it's improved him."
Dr. Sennett says while cupping is best performed by experienced trainers, cupping can be done at home, with kits ordered on the internet. And because many are wondering if it's painful, I tried it. It doesn't hurt. Eric adds, "No it doesn't hurt , feels good actually."
Experts say while there are no studies proving cupping works, there are plenty of people, including Olympic athletes who are convinced it helps.
