Cupping: bruises for the gullible, and other myths in sport

This is my version of a post which I was asked to write for Indy Voices. It’s been published, though so many changes were made by the editor that I’m posting the original here (below). Superstition is rife in all sports. Mostly it does no harm, and it might even have a placebo effect that’s sufficient to make a difference of 0.01%. That might just get you a medal. But what does matter is that superstition has given rise to an army of charlatans who are only to willing to sell their magic medicine to athletes, most of whom are not nearly as rich as Phelps. So much has been said about cupping during the last week that it’s hard to say much that’s original. Yesterday I did six radio interviews and two for TV, and today Associated Press TV came to film a piece about it. Everyone else must have been on holiday. The only one I’ve checked was the piece on the BBC News channel. That one didn’t seem to go too badly, so it’s here BBC news coverage It starts with the usual lengthy, but uninformative, pictures of someone being cupped, The cupper in this case was actually a chiropractor, Rizwhan Suleman. Chiropractic is, of course a totally different form of alternative medicine and its value has been totally discredited in the wake of the Simon Singh case. It’s not unusual for people to sell different therapies with conflicting beliefs. Truth is irrelevant. Once you’ve believed one impossible thing, it seems that the next...
Source: DC's goodscience - Category: Science Authors: Tags: acupuncture Anti-science badscience Bait and switch CAM Quackery Sports alternative medicine antiscience chiropractic cupping health fraud sports medicine TCM Traditional Chinese medicine Source Type: blogs