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The Paris Olympics have not only showcased athletic excellence but also brought to light a range of therapies like ice baths and osteopathy, which experts claim have little scientifically proven medical value. Athletes often seek out every possible method to enhance performance and alleviate pain, making the Olympics a hotbed for questionable medical treatments.
“In sport, there is a lot of propaganda for all kinds of ‘alternative medicine’—there is a lot of demand from athletes,” stated Didier Bouhassira, a French neurologist and pain specialist, in an interview with AFP.
Back in the Rio Games, cupping was the trending pseudoscientific treatment, praised by athletes like US Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, despite limited scientific evidence supporting its benefits beyond a placebo effect.
The New Ice Age
For the Paris Games, ice has taken center stage. Cryotherapy, which includes cold-water swimming, ice baths, and advanced cooling chambers, is promoted for aiding athletes’ recovery post-exercise. According to a recent editorial in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, participating federations requested over 16,000 tons of ice for the Paris Games, costing 2.5 million euros ($2.7 million). However, due to supply limitations, only 650 tons—still ten times the amount required at the Tokyo Games—were secured.
The editorial criticized the routine use of cryotherapy between training sessions, noting that while ice baths can treat conditions like heat stroke, athletes often use them for non-evidence-based benefits. The authors cautioned that ice could delay tissue regeneration or impair recovery and highlighted the environmental impact of producing, transporting, and storing such large quantities of ice.
Long Way from Science
Osteopathy is another alternative medicine widely utilized by athletes and is well-integrated into Olympic teams. Osteopaths work alongside federations and are part of the official Olympic clinic staff, monitoring athletes daily. Despite its popularity, osteopathy, which claims to restore health through body manipulations, lacks solid scientific backing, and its effectiveness is hotly debated.
Studies with rigorous methodologies have shown that many aspects of osteopathy, like “cranial” or “visceral” osteopathy, have no effect. Other manipulations, similar to those done by physiotherapists, show no significant advantage over conventional physiotherapy. A randomized clinical trial published in JAMA Internal Medicine in 2021 found no clinically meaningful difference between osteopathic manipulations and “sham” treatments like light touching in 400 patients with back pain.
Osteopaths provide athletes with a sense of well-being without curative properties, according to Pascale Mathieu, president of France’s council of physiotherapists. While not overly concerned about osteopathy’s presence at the Olympics, she strongly opposes its integration into hospitals.
Commercial Exploitation
The Olympics also serve as a marketing platform for companies selling products of dubious medical value. French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi faced criticism for promoting a “pain-relieving” patch called Initiv ahead of the Games. Supported by athletes like French Olympian Kevin Mayer, the patch claims to reflect infrared energy emitted by the body to relieve pain.
Sanofi stated that a clinical trial of the patch was “received favorably by the scientific community.” However, pain specialist Didier Bouhassira dismissed these claims, calling the product “pure PR and a long way from science.”
As the Paris Olympics continue, the debate over the use of unproven therapies in sports medicine remains a contentious issue, highlighting the need for evidence-based practices in athletic care.
