Can Cupping Speed Recovery After Training?
Does cupping help athletic recovery? There’s are some Olympic athletes that think so. Remember the marks on the back and shoulders of swimmer Michael Phelps and gymnast Alexander Naddour in the 2016 Rio Olympics that sparked great debate? Those marks are from cupping. While the Olympics made those little suction marks famous, Chinese Medicine has been utilizing this technique for thousands of years. But what is cupping and how does it work?
The cups and bolts
Cupping is an ancient technique that uses fire to create suction. To do so, an alcohol-soaked cotton ball is lit on fire and placed momentarily inside a glass cup. The flame consumes the oxygen in the cup creating a negative pressure; the cup is then adhered to the body. The suction created from the negative pressure sucks the skin and underlying fascia into the cup. The use of fire does not create a heating effect, but rather acts as the mechanics to produce the suction. Modern approaches have added plastic cups with a pump to create the suction (as seen in the image above).
The suction of the cups creates microtrauma under the skin (hence the pink-purple dots) which is called petechiae. Research suggests that the micro trauma can increases blood flow, increases lymphatic drainage, stimulate the immune system and reduce inflammation. There is also research to suggest that is has an effect on pain as well as an ability to increase range of motion in a tissue. This can be hugely beneficial to athletes as it creates openness and space in the underlying tissue as well as kickstarting recovery for sore muscles. This interesting study explores in depth some of these mechanisms through which cups bring healing.
Types of Cupping
There are a couple of different types of cupping I use:
Stationary cups are placed on the skin and left on for 10-15 minutes.
Sliding cups are placed on after first adding an oil or liniment to the skin. This allows the cups to slide over the skin.
Why should athletes care about cupping?
As part of a comprehensive treatment plan, cupping can help release tension in tissue and muscles. It can also increase blood flow and the movement of fluids, which helps to decrease recovery time. It’s just another tool for pain management, injury recovery or to speed recovery time after workouts.
Beyond athletic recovery, cupping can be used to help a variety of other conditions such as pain, migraines, digestive issues, skin issues or immune support and has been used for centuries, not only in Chinese Medicine. For example, remember that scene in The Godfather II in which a grandmother is putting cups on a little boy with pneumonia? Cupping has been used in over 60 countries for issues likes these.
Interested in seeing if cupping will help your recovery or pain? I can include cupping as an adjunct in our treatments to get you and your body back to where you want to be.
Other resources: