Gua Sha is a traditional Chinese therapeutic technique in which a trained practitioner strokes your skin while pressing on it with a smooth-edged tool. This motion causes petechiae or tiny, red, rash-like dots that appear under your skin.
Gua sha is used to alleviate chronic pain throughout the body. It is frequently combined with other alternative treatments such as heat therapy, acupuncture, massage, and herbal medicine.
Its origins are in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). TCM principles state that your energy or qi (pronounced “chi”) must circulate throughout your body in order for you to feel your best. It is believed that health problems might emerge when qi becomes stagnant in particular regions. A practitioner (often an acupuncturist) would use a smooth-edged tool to gently scrape areas of your body where there is inflammation or sluggish qi to help increase circulation and promote healing with gua sha.
What to Expect at Your Gua Sha Appointment
Your technician will rub oil onto your skin to prepare you for treatment. The gua sha massage tool, which can be metal, stone, bone or plastic, will then be scraped against your skin in long, downward strokes. Petechiae will appear on your skin at this point.
What Are the Advantages of Gua Sha?
While records of Gua Sha utilization began to emerge during the Ming Dynasty, it is still a popular TCM treatment today. It has been reported to be effective for pain relief as well as for boosting energy flow and circulation by practitioners. While there have been several Chinese studies on the usefulness of Gua Sha, American experts have only recently begun publishing their own findings. Gua sha, in addition to the remedies indicated above, can help:
Encourages lymphatic drainage. According to experts, Gua Sha can reduce puffiness by removing fluid buildup.
Reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. By improving the circulation of the skin, there will be an improvement in the skin’s fine lines and wrinkles.
Muscle tension is relieved. Users can release built-up muscular tension and untangle knotted areas by getting a Gua Sha massage.
Increase blood circulation. From a Chinese medical standpoint, the Yang Ming meridians (composed of the large intestines and stomach) and Tai Yin meridians (composed of the lung and spleen) are responsible for the overall health of your skin. When a gua sha tool gently scrapes the skin on your face, it stimulates your Yang Ming meridians. It also signals to your body that this location requires better blood circulation.
Helps alleviate cold symptoms. It is especially beneficial for those people who have an acute or ongoing illness since Gua Sha helps eliminate non-circulating blood and toxins from the body by continuously stimulating certain places. The appearance of this purge might range from redness to minor bruises.
Other Benefits of Gua Sha Massage
Gua Sha has been claimed to assist in treating a variety of health issues. Gua Sha is beneficial for musculoskeletal issues, particularly major ones such as tension in the back, legs, and shoulders. It can also aid with edema, neck pain, migraines, and tension headaches. It is meant to increase the blood flow through the body and help with nerve conduction.
If you are interested in learning more about the Gua Sha technique, give Matsuno Wellness a call at 214-733-2067 today to get started.