Nicolò Martinenghi’s ‘polka-dotted’ backgold medalist in the 100-meter breaststroke at the 2024 Paris Olympics, stands out in the photos that immortalize the victory of the Italian swimmer and are not new among athletes. The same Round, red marks were also noted on several occasions on the skin of other specimens in the tankincluding our own Gregorio Paltrinieri.
It’s Cupping therapy imprintsa practice also dear to many celebrities, such as Hollywood stars like Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Aniston. But what is it? Is it really useful or could it be risky? The experts at ‘Doctor, but is it true that…?’, an anti-fake news portal from Fnomceo, the National Federation of Medical Associations, try to explain it. On the one hand, cupping has no scientific basis, they emphasize. On the other, they warn, it can also involve risks.
“Cupping – the anti-hoax doctors clarify – is not the latest fashion trend:Traditional Chinese medicine has been recommended for hundreds (thousands?) of years for the most diverse disorders. From back pain (lumbosciatica) to chronic pain, up to some respiratory diseases”.
What is it about?
“I am glass jars are applied to the skin and, by lighting a small flame, a vacuum is created” with the consequent “suction of the skin. The cups remain in contact with the skin for a variable amount of time (usually between 5 and 15 minutes), but the techniques are very different depending on who practices them. At least 15 different ways of manipulating the cups and 10 different treatment protocols are known”. So much so that “in 2010 the Chinese government proposed a standardization of cupping practices”.
Why should it do any good?
“The benefit for the patient would be due to the improvement of blood circulation in the treated areas.“. However, “as highlighted in a review in the Oxford University Press Quarterly Journal of Medicine,” the doctors point out, “articles studying the possible mechanisms of action of cupping are still very rare.”
But what evidence is there of its effectiveness?
The doctors point out that, “for a treatment used for such a large number of disorders and pathologies, it is not easy to reach certain conclusions”. However, “we can say that, to date, no scientific evidence has been produced to demonstrate that cupping is effective in treating back pain, as well as any other disorder”. “A systematic study of the results of research conducted from 1980 to 2013 and published in journals included in the most well-known database in the biomedical field (Medline) – the anti-fake news doctors analyze – found 29 studies of which only one was a randomized controlled trial. Most of the articles reported single cases of treated patients. The authors of the review”, dated 2013, “came to the conclusion that the evidence is too weak to have certainty of the usefulness of this practice”.
In 2012, the doctors continue, “a study published in the journal ‘Plos Medicine’ analyzed only randomized controlled trials (the type of study method that should promise, if not guarantee, more solid results) conducted between 1992 and 2010. Cupping was tested for the treatment of a wide variety of disorders, from lower back pain to acne, from dyspnea to Herpes zoster.” But “even in this case the conclusions were not encouraging, especially due to the poor quality of the methodology of the studies conducted.”
Also in 2013, the doctors report, “another study on about 60 patients compared cupping with a relaxing massage to evaluate the effectiveness of the two strategies in reducing pain in the cervical spine: no differences were found between the two treatments”.
Can cupping hurt?
According to Salvo Di Grazia, a doctor known on the web for his anti-hoax activity, “in reality, cupping, in addition to obviously not having any scientific basis, can expose you to some dangers.Breakage of blood vessels, pain, bruising, bleeding, infections and more”, lists the expert.
“If in the vast majority of cases cupping involves the application of a few ‘sucking’ cups – Di Grazia observes – in some cases dozens are applied, exposing the unfortunate person to even higher risks. There are shocking images available on the Internet – he says – in some of which you can even see abundant blood coming out of the skin and ending up in the cup, often blisters or fluids oozing out. A useless and dangerous torture. This – the doctor concludes – demonstrates the power of the suction effect that can even break the capillaries and make the blood pass through the skin, but also the lack of limits and common sense of the charlatans”.
“A systematic review” from 2014, “of studies carried out in Korea – the anti-fake doctors conclude – suggests that adverse effects can be avoided by relying on expert operators and are, in any case, mild”.
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