Michael Phelps’ Purple Bruises: Olympic Athletes Are Crazy Over Cupping Therapy

By now, you are probably aware of the internet's interest on Michael Phelps' weird, purple bruises seen on his body at the Rio Olympic Games 2016. Those large dots on Phelps' body are the result of cupping therapy, a practice that is also common among other Olympic athletes particularly swimmers, gymnasts, and runners.

Ralph Reiff, a sports performance expert who has worked with over 100 athletes of the latest USA Olympic team, said they see cupping as "an effective alternative therapy" to add to their "toolkit of resources," USA Today Sports reported. Reiff also serves as the executive director of the St. Vincent Sports Performance in Indianapolis.

Cupping is a Chinese ancient form of muscle therapy that involves putting heated cups on the skin. After lighting up the glass cup containing flammable liquid, the decreasing temperature creates suction and allows the cups to stick to a person's body.

The suction lifts the skin up, increasing the blood flow in the cupping area. Reiff said cupping sometimes breaks the capillaries on the skin's surface, which is the reason why there is discoloration on the athletes' body. Those red or purple spots usually disappear after three or four days, according to BBC.

Athletes claimed that cupping therapy helps ease aches and pains that they always get from rigorous training and competitions. Reiff claimed that cupping also improves athletes' muscle movement and contributes to a faster recovery from their constant physical work.

"There's always a level of a responsibility that we have as practitioners to do what's ethical and safe, and this certainly gets very high marks in both of those areas," Reiff said of cupping therapy, as quoted in USA Today Sports' report. U.S. gymnast Alex Naddour told USA Today that he tried massages and a hot tub to recover after a competition, but he stressed that cupping therapy is "better than any money I've spent on anything else" and that the practice saved him from "a lot of pain." Olympian diver Kassidy Cook, swimmer Natalie Coughlin, and gymnast Chris Brooks are fans of cupping as well.

Brent Bauer, director of the Mayo Clinic Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program, said there are little harmful effects from cupping therapy, Live Science reported. The practice isn't painful, but is a bit uncomfortable and provides sensations of "tightness, pressure and warmth" where the glass cup was placed on the skin, BBC noted.

Some cupping sessions, however, can cause mild burns to people. The British Acupuncture Council, or BAcC, advised people to only undergo cupping therapy with trained practitioners.