WHAT CAUSE AN OLYMPIC ATHLETES RED SPOTS ON THEIR BODY?
At the beginning of the Rio Olympics, various members of Team USA came to participate with what some people have illustrated as unusual marks on their bodies. The red spots on their body are actually a spots of cupping, it's a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) procedure applied for performance improvement and healing.
An early practice of cupping in Oriental Medicine and usually uses a flame to heat a cup to put on to skin has been used for more than 2,000 years. The air within the cup cools and produce suction that encourage blood to circulate properly. Cups are normally left on from 1-10 minutes depends on the condition of the patient and they are sometimes positioned and moved as stated by TCM meridian points, which those who perform the procedure believe are channels through which the energy of the body circulate.
According to Dr. Melinda Ring, executive director of the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Northwestern Medicine, “When we use heat, it dilates the vessels and improves blood flow to certain areas,” told FoxNews.com. “Because of the way cupping works, it accelerates the process and is very localized,” she added.
Research have recommended cupping can help ease pain when combined with different therapies such as acupuncture and spinal manipulation. Although there isn’t data on its benefit for athletic performance, it's oftentimes used for this purpose, Dr. Ring noted.
Dr. Ring said “Our Olympic athletes are straining their muscles and working them hard, and this idea of stimulating blood circulation can benefit their muscles.” .
He or she can go through the technique once or multiple times depending on an athletes demand. Not many people have announced adverse consequences from cupping, however at worst she has heard of mild scalding, Ring said. Individuals report a tingling sensation where the cup was putted on.
