Gua Sha is Back
Have you ever heard of Gua Sha? A friend gave me a link to a podcast on qiological.com, I’ll share a link to the talk below. This podcast reignited an interest in this beautifully simple and effective technique.
What is Gua Sha?
Gua Sha is a “scraping” technique, which I know sounds intense, I know. This technique itself is very simple. You use a tool and scrape over and area and as a result it was really just glossed over in my schooling. But turns out is an amazingly useful treatment for a wide variety of conditions. Gua means ‘to rub’ or ‘press or stroke.’ Sha describes the red “rash” or congested blood that comes to the surface of the skin. The treatment is performed by the practitioner using some type of tool often a soup spoon, jar lid or specialized stone tool to rub the areas that requires treatment. See simple.
What is it used for?
Like cupping therapy Gua Sha also clears stagnated blood, increases circulation, releases fascia and restrictions, etc. but unlike cupping it can be done anywhere there is skin because there is no suction involved. What is super cool about Gua Sha is that it has also been shown to initiate a systemic anti-inflammatory response. This means that you can receive Gua Sha on your neck but it will be causing an anti-inflammatory response through your whole body, not just at the site of application! In addition to its anti-inflammatory properties, it is also thought that because it is a hands-on technique and the repetitive nature of the scraping the vibrations produced by the repetition can penetrate deeper than surface level and actually work at the internal and organ levels. I don’t know about you but that is is super cool to me.
Guy Sha is commonly thought of by most providers as a treatment for pain or fever but the its application can go way beyond that. It can be used to treat digestive complaints, menstrual complaints, headaches, chest congestion, concussion, and is great to use with kids! And if that is not enough it also supports and boosts the immune system.
In addition to all of those great things, which only scratches the surface of what it can treat, (pun intended), it can also aid in the treatment of the emotions. In TCM “the blood is consciousness,” as we treat inflammation and address the blood we can affect the emotions as well.
I also should mention that despite what it looks like painful and intense, bright red, black or blue markings, when done by a trained professional, aren’t actually painful at all. If you google image search Gua Sha you will see some very intense pictures that most people say looks painful, but when done right it doesn't hurt at all. Very similar to cupping the marks often times looks much worse than they are. The color of the marking often is a sign of stagnation, poor circulation, heat or blocked qi in the area. Most people find the treatment relaxing and that it feels good. Gua Sha results are usually seen and felt very quickly often within the same day if not during the treatment itself!
So next time you are having aches and pains, digestive problems, period pain or feeling stuck emotionally you may want to try a Gua Sha treatment.
Here is the link https://qiological.com/gua-sha/