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AUGUST 16, 2016

Cupping Makes Splash at Olympic Games, But Does It Really Reduce Muscle Pain?

Photo by Renato Ganoza on Flickr.

Viewers of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, may have found themselves pondering two burning questions: How do those swimsuits that the male divers wear not come off when they hit the water, and what are those painful-looking red circles all over the swimmers’ bodies?

The answer to the first question remains a mystery, but those confounding circles are caused by “cupping,” a 1,000-year-old Chinese healing practice that, among