Why are Olympians covered in big purple circles?
Posted August 10, 2016 7:02 pm.
Last Updated August 11, 2016 6:32 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NEW WESTMINSTER (NEWS 1130) – You may be noticing big purple marks all over bodies of athletes at the Rio Games.
US super-swimmer Michael Phelps is seemingly always polka-dotted with “cupping marks.”
Cupping is becoming more popular in the Lower Mainland as Olympians like Phelps draw attention to the ancient Chinese form of medicine.
It’s similar to acupuncture, but instead of poking a needle into the muscle, suction cups pull blood out to reportedly help ease tension and heal the tissue. “It really helps with injury prevention, it helps with muscle recovery, and it helps with any pain or inflammation you have in the muscle or the area,” explains Dr. Allana Polo of Polo Health & Longevity Centre in New Westminster.
Many athletes mix this procedure into their regular workout routines. “After a workout you can definitely benefit, but it’s also great to do before you work out or after periods of time where you’re having intense exercises you could follow in between with periods of cupping,” says Polo. “By cupping, we’re able to keep the blood flow happening and the muscles loose so they don’t get tight and we’re just able to better train and recover.”
She adds cupping can be used to help release tension in your back and neck if you slept awkwardly or if that’s where you carry your stress.
And while the big purple hickeys look painful, Polo says it isn’t. “It feels like pressure, definitely there’s an element of pressure. It feels like a very deep tissue massage, but it’s not painful,” assures Polo. “The redness comes from the fact that we’re pulling blood to the surface of the skin…There’s no tenderness when you’re touching [the marks].”
The marks last five to seven days.
Polo says Olympians are helping bring positive attention to alternative health care, and people seem really open to treatments that isn’t a drug, and isn’t invasive.
