If you are apprehensive about trying alternative medicine, take a note from the Chinese Olympic swimmer, Wang Qun: It works! While training at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, photographers snapped pictures of Qun’s back, bruised from the Chinese medicine technique, cupping. For a cupping therapy session, glass or plastic cups are placed on a patient’s body, creating a vacuum seal from heat or suction. Cupping therapy breaks up and shifts ‘qi’ or bodily energy and blood by means of expanding the blood vessels, removing toxins, and relieving pain and stiffness.

At the Pittsburgh Center for Complementary Health and Healing, our Licensed Acupuncturist, Andrew Macfarlane treats acupuncture patients using cupping therapy. Try it as a supplement to an acupuncture session to eliminate pain or soreness, to treat a cold or flu, or to relieve inflammation.

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The price of Gold: Chinese athletes left with huge spots after 'cupping' therapy in quest for Olympic glory