Gua Sha, meaning to "scrape away illness," involves using tools with lubricant liniment to scrape and rub parts of the patient's skin repeatedly. The aim is to "activate blood circulation to dissipate blood stasis," based on TCM theory.
Practitioners believe that gua sha releases unhealthy bodily matter from blood stasis within sore, tired, stiff or injured muscle areas to stimulate new oxygenated blood flow to the areas, thus promoting metabolic cell repair, regeneration, healing and recovery.
Historical records on gua sha go back to the Paleolithic Age. When people fell sick or became unconscious, hands or stones were used to rub parts of their body to help alleviate the symptoms of disease. It was referred to in China and Vietnam as coining, scraping or spooning, largely because they used these tools for the practice. Today you will see tools made from rose quartz, jade or natural animal horns. Gua Sha is typically done in salons, esthetician offices and where acupuncture is performed.
Gua Sha is sometimes referred to as scraping, spooning or coining by English speakers. In the chiropractic and physical therapy offices of modern day, you might run across the word Graston Technique. Graston technique is practiced by chiropractors, osteopath physicians, licensed massage therapists, athletic trainers, physical therapists and occupational therapists. The instruments they use will look very similar to the gua sha tools, but are made from stainless steel. They both impose the same idea, only the development was thousands of years apart.
So what is it used for? It helps to break up the scar tissue and restore mobility to the affected area, which reduces pain. It also breaks fascia restrictions that are associated with soft tissue trauma. The technique works by stretching connective tissue in an attempt to reconfigure the soft tissue that is targeted by the treatment. The formation of scar tissue can increase the likelihood of future injury. It also works great for
Fibromyalgia
Tendonitis
Carpel tunnel syndrome
Lumbar spine pain
Tennis elbow
Neck pain
Knee pain
Plantar fasciitis
Shoulder pain
Chronic neck pain
Tension headaches/migraines
For beauty purposes, facial gua sha implements the same methods used on the body to improve skin issues like redness, wrinkles, muscle or joint pain and elasticity.
What it is NOT. Common misconceptions are that for this procedure to be beneficial, bruising and pain are unavoidable and necessary for the technique to work. WRONG! Bruising and pain have never been expected, necessary or desired in order to get optimal results. In fact, it is normally less painful than a deep tissue massage. And the benefits are more profound, and last longer. After a gua sha treatment the skin exhibits dark pink to light red color or exhibits small red dots over the area treated, called petechiae. These markings are a good and healthy thing – it’s a sign that the body is getting rid of toxins. They typically disappear in about 5 minutes. I NEVER advocate anything that looks like this...
For best results, treatment should be given twice a week, about every 4 days. Relief should be found in 6-8 weeks, if not sooner.
PS - Scar tissue is very bad. Please read more on my article about scar tissue, what it is, if you have it and why it's so bad.