The stars caught in their cups
HELENA BONHAM CARTER
She is known for her alternative dress sense and it seems that helena Bonham Carter is a fan of alternative medicine, too. When she was pregnant with her son Billy Ray, now 12, by film director Tim Burton, the hollywood actress practised ‘Listening Therapy’, where patients play Mozart and Gregorian chants to help them unwind. exposing the muscles of the middle ear to different frequencies is said to improve concentration and decrease stress. Last week, the 50-year-old was seen sporting bruises underneath her dress as she collected her children from school. A spokesman for Miss Bonham Carter declined to comment on her treatment.
MICHAEL PHELPS
The most decorated Olympian of all-time, Phelps caused a stir in Rio when ‘cupping’ marks were spotted across his shoulders and back. Because the treatment draws blood to the surface, it is claimed to help overworked muscles heal far quicker. The 31-year-old is said to have the treatment regularly.
LENA DUNHAM
The Girls actress, 30, proudly posted a selfie of her cupping marks on Instagram in 2014, along with the caption ‘Da cure’. however, many fans expressed their concern that the swellings looked far ‘angrier’ and more raised than normal. ITS fans may look like they have gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson.
But the tell-tale angry red marks have not dented the celebrity craze for ‘cupping’.
Last week, actress Helena Bonham Carter became the latest star to sport the bruise-like marks when she stepped out on the school run.
The treatment, which originated from Chinese medicine, involves
GWYNETH PALTROW
The Oscar-winning actress was one of the first celebrities to sport the tell-tale marks in public. Bizarrely, the 43-year-old – no stranger to alternative medicine – has even claimed it may be an alternative to antibiotics. She said: ‘If you have... toxicity in the corresponding organ, it pulls it out through that point.’ placing heated glass cups on the skin to create suction. It is claimed this stimulates the body’s flow of energy, which then helps with pain and improves relaxation.
The therapy has grown in popularity since Hollywood star Gwyneth
LIONEL RICHIE
The singer may have tried cupping – but he isn’t a convert. The 67year-old was pictured looking uncomfortable last year after daughter Nicole, 34, persuaded him to try it. She told chat show host ellen DeGeneres, both left: ‘I’m helping him... enrich his life. I get cupping. My kids get it.’ Paltrow showed off the marks at a 2004 premiere.
But David Colquhoun, professor of pharmacology at University College London, says: ‘Cupping has never been tested and is perfect nonsense. There is no evidence that it works, or that it improves muscle pain and circulation. You just disfigure yourself a bit.’
But these celebrity enthusiasts might disagree...
JENNIFER ANISTON
DReSSeD in a strapless playsuit, the Friends star showed off her marks on the red carpet in 2013. Unusually they appeared lighter than her skintone – leading some critics to suggest she had tried to cover them with make-up. The 47-year-old is said to have used the treatment ‘for years’.
JUSTIN BIEBER
The Canadian pop singer was so proud of his cupping marks he flaunted them in a magazine photoshoot last year. But always one to do things differently, Bieber, 22, sported the marks on his chest instead of his back. experts suggested he might have used the treatment for a pectoral injury after lifting too many weights.