Speaker 1: Traffic and weather on News Radio 610 WTVN. Dr. John Michels on the live line right now.
Speaker 1: Dr. John, in just a couple of minutes, people that watch the Olympics that consume it, especially with the swimmers, see those round bruises all over various competitors. We’ve learned that it’s cupping. Walk me through, when people go through a round of cupping, what is actually happening?
Dr. Michels: They use glass or silicone cups and can create a vacuum using either heat, where they’ll burn some herbs or cotton or alcohol, which creates a vacuum and sucks skin up into the cup.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Dr. Michels: Or mechanical suction, either a hand pump or mechanical crank that creates suction, drawing blood into the injured tissue and creating an inflammatory response, which is supposed to heal or speed recovery.
Speaker 1: Wow. In the big picture, maybe short term pain for long term gain kind of thing?
Dr. Michels: Well, the thought is that it’s going to give them a competitive advantage.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Dr. Michels: Michael Phelps is having to compete within a half hour of different competition.
Speaker 1: Right.
Dr. Michels: And if they can do this to help speed the recovery time and enable him to perform at an optimal level, that’s the hope.
Speaker 1: Okay. In your experience, does it work?
Dr. Michels: You know, the studies are inconclusive. The critics say the benefits that people perceive are a little more than the placebo effect. It’s only working because they believe it will work. It’s really tough to study. Unlike testing a drug, where one person’s going to receive the actual medicine and another person receives a sugar pill, and you see whether there’s a difference in the outcome. You can’t really fake cupping.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Dr. Michels: You either walk away with a big hickey on your back or you don’t.
Speaker 1: I got you. Again, and if you’re Michael Phelps, where literally, you’re taxing your entire body, it would seem to me like maybe if you have a little bout of arthritis or something in your joint that you can actually get suction on, it seems localized. I can understand it, but total body, it doesn’t make much sense to me.
Dr. Michels: No, not total body. That’s what, if you’re looking at Michael Phelps, you see the majority of it is around his shoulder region.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Dr. Michels: He’s trying to heal up that area that’s getting that repetitive trauma from the strokes that he’s taking in his events. The hope is that he can have some pain relief and that he can speed the recovery of those muscles so that he’s ready to perform.
Speaker 1: I got you. I guess then, if it’s inconclusive that it helps, is there any detriment? Should I stay away from it? Or, is it just one of the things if, hey, I think it helps, and if I got the money, knock yourself out.
Dr. Michels: For the most part it’s relatively safe. This is something that’s been around for thousands of years. In fact, the first mention in literature dates back to 1550 BC.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Dr. Michels: The most common side effects are bruising, that we see.
Speaker 1: Yep.
Dr. Michels: That characteristic bruising that can last anywhere from a couple of days to weeks. You can have some pain during the treatment, as they’re sucking the skin up into the cup. If heat is used, there’s a potential to get a burn on the skin. Infection, there’s low rates of infection with this. And, if the cupping is used for periods of greater than five to 10 minutes at a time, you can actually get breakdown of the skin and ulceration.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Dr. Michels: But other than that, it’s relatively safe. We don’t recommend it on children, because again, big bruises on the back of children can be a red flag, and people may start to talk about child abuse, so we reserve it for consenting adults.
Speaker 1: Sounds like a smart move. Dr. John, I appreciate the time. Dr. John Michels, the cupping controversy. That’s about as succinct of an explanation as I’ve heard to this point.
