The Olympics have long been a place for demonstrating unusual treatment methods, the benefits of which have not been proven by science. As experts note, alternative medicine in sports is very popular. The reason is that athletes are looking for various new ways to strengthen their health and improve their performance, as well as relieve pain after injuries. The current Olympics were no exception – athletes once again demonstrated unusual, highly questionable treatment methods.
The Olympic Games often use treatment methods that have no scientific basis. Photo source: budobelly.com
Vacuum therapy is an old “Olympic” treatment method
Athletes resort to a variety of alternative medical methods. Some of them gradually “go out of fashion”, while others, on the contrary, become extremely popular. For example, at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, which were held eight years ago, vacuum therapy was extremely popular, which, by the way, was widely used in the USSR.
It is based on the placement of cups with a discharged pressure, and cupping massage. Due to the vacuum, the cups are literally sucked to the body. The creation of a sharp pressure drop affects the skin, muscle tissue and blood vessels. It is believed that cups accelerate blood circulation and lymph flow, and also improve nutrition and saturation of tissues with oxygen. Sometimes vacuum therapy is even used to treat wounds.
Vacuum therapy was popular among athletes 8 years ago. Photo source: facebook.com
In the USSR, cupping was most often used for acute respiratory infections along with another popular folk remedy at that time – mustard plasters. However, vacuum medicine did not come from the Soviet Union, but from ancient Eastern medicine. Athletes usually use cupping to recover after training and strengthen the body as a whole. But at the current Olympics in Paris, this ancient method of treatment is no longer as popular as it was 8 years ago. It has been replaced by other folk methods.
Cryotherapy – why athletes “freeze” themselves
Cryotherapy, which involves taking ice baths or using special refrigeration chambers, has become a hit among athletes at the 2024 Olympics. According to the British Journal of Sports Medicine, federations participating in the Olympics have requested a total of over 16,000 tons of ice worth $2.7 million.
Cryotherapy has become a hit in 2024 among athletes. Photo source: kayo-m.ru
True, it was not possible to provide the athletes with such a huge amount of ice – only 650 tons of ice were delivered to the Olympics. This is much less than was required, but still a very large amount, which is 10 times more than the amount of ice required three years ago for the Games in Tokyo.
It should be said that cryotherapy has recently become popular not only among athletes. For example, it is known that Pavel Durov, the founder of the VK social network and the Telegram messenger, starts every day with an ice bath. But how healthy is this?
Taking ice baths is popular not only among athletes. Photo source: championat.com
Ice baths can actually help treat some conditions, such as heat stroke. However, their benefits as a means of strengthening the body have not been proven. Athletes use cryotherapy for its benefits, but ice can have the opposite effect. In particular, it can lead to a slowdown in tissue regeneration or a deterioration in recovery. Therefore, the benefits of cryotherapy are questionable.
Osteopathy – no Olympics can do without it
Osteopathy is another branch of alternative medicine that has no scientific basis. It is based on the idea that the connections between organs and the musculoskeletal structure are of decisive importance in human health.
Osteopathic doctors, through manual intervention, that is, pressing on certain parts of the body, stretching and tightening tissues, as well as through acupuncture, eliminate existing problems in the body, help to recover, etc. Osteopathy is so popular in sports that it is included in the federations and teams of the official Olympic clinic, which monitors athletes daily.
The effectiveness of osteopathy has not been proven by science: medportal.ru
However, this treatment method is controversial in the scientific community. Some studies have shown that certain areas of osteopathy do not produce any effect. For example, in 2021, a study was conducted in which the effect of osteopathic manipulations was compared with “fictitious” treatment methods, such as light touch.
The study was quite large – 400 patients with lower back pain took part in it. The results showed that there was no difference between these treatment methods, that is, osteopathy turned out to be as ineffective as treatment methods, the fictitiousness of which is beyond doubt.
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Why then do athletes practice these questionable methods? Obviously, the reason is the desire of athletes to get some advantage for their body. In addition, most likely, the effect of self-hypnosis plays a certain role in this. After certain manipulations, athletes may feel that they really feel better. However, sport itself gives athletes an advantage in terms of health and even life expectancy, despite the enormous strain on the body.