This year’s Olympics are now in full swing and it’s all eyes on the athletes.
From archery and shooting to athletics and gymnastics, there’s all kind of sports taking place across Paris, France, at the moment.
One fan-favorite sport to watch is the swimming, and this year there’s a whopping 854 athletes from 187 different countries competing.
But there’s a common theme you might have spotted with some of the swimmers and that’s the unusual dark red circles they have on their backs.
While it might look like they’ve had a fight with an octopus and lost, there’s a very different reason for the odd markings.
It turns out that the large spots are from cupping therapy – an ancient healing technique that involves placing cups on the skin to create suction and increase blood flow to the area.
The unconventional method is supposed to help with muscle recovery and is used as a type of deep tissue massage.
Some athletes were spotted with cupping therapy bruises back at the Rio Olympics in 2016, and it’s still seemingly popular now.
Gymnast Alexander Naddour told USA Today back in 2016 that cupping was supposedly the ‘secret’ to his health.
He added: “It’s been better than any money I’ve spent on anything else.”
Away from the Games, basketball player Kyle Singler has also praised cupping therapy.
“The bruises do look more intense than what they actually feel like, but the benefit from it is really great,” he previously insisted.
Singler continued to tell Sports Illustrated: “You’re not necessarily getting the immediate response that you might want but over time it does help with recovery and loosening tissue and stuff like that.”
But does cupping therapy actually work according to experts? It’s seems as if the jury’s still out.
According to Harvard Health, some studies have found that cupping might provide some relief for a number of musculoskeletal and sports-related conditions. The quality of this evidence was ‘limited’, however.
Elsewhere a 2022 review found that wet (as opposed to dry cupping) was effective for lower back pain.
While the bruises people get from cupping are pretty gnarly, the therapy is generally seen as safe to practice – even if people aren’t 100 percent on how affective it is.
“Most experts agree that cupping is safe. As long as those treated don’t mind the circular discolorations (which fade over a number of days or weeks), side effects tend to be limited to the pinch experienced during skin suction,” Harvard Health explains.
“It’s quite unusual that cupping causes any serious problems (though, rarely, skin infections have been reported).”
There you have it, folks.
If you find a “bleach” patch on your underwear, you’d better know what it means
When we are in need of certain information, the first thing we turn to is the Internet. Unlike many years ago when people went straight to the library to seek knowledge, now that knowledge is just a click away.
Among the countless websites, there are those that deal with threads where people ask questions, and honestly, nettizens never disappoint.
Recently, someone posted a question eager to learn why their underwear appears to have bleach stains on it sometimes. Well, it turned out that many ladies wanted to know the answer to the question, realizing they are not alone and that many others have experienced this “issue.”
As always, many were quick to provide answers. It turned out that it is the vagina’s natural pH levels that really produce these “bleach” spots.
According to experts, this isn’t a reason for concern. On the contrary, it is an indicator that your pH levels, which indicate how acidic or alkaline a liquid or a substance is, are normal.
“Now that everyone is aware, it’s completely normal to discover lighter patches in a woman’s underwear or knickers due to the acidic nature of the vagina, with a pH range of 3.8-4.5. So, I suppose it’s time to abandon the notion of it being a result of poor hygiene. In fact, a healthy vagina is one that can bleach the fabric,” Dr. Vanessa MacKay of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists stated.
She explained that the vagina has a natural secretory system that allows it to clean itself. It is protected by the good bacteria that it contains.
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The National Institutes of Health states that the pH of the vagina typically fluctuates from 3.8 to 5.0, which means that it is rather acidic compared to the normally neutral pH level of 7.
“Disturbing the natural balance can lead to infections, but it’s perfectly normal and healthy for women to have clear or white discharge from their vagina,” Dr. MacKay added.
If you were among those wondering what is the reason behind these stains now you can rest at ease.
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