Gua Sha
According to Wikipedia, Gua Sha is a traditional Chinese medical treatment in which the skin is scraped to produce light bruising by rubbing a smooth-edged instrument across the pre-oiled skin surface repeatedly.
When treatment is effective, distinctive reddening of the skin, known as sha, is observed. This is a positive response and brings the immediate and lasting benefit of dispelling wind, reducing heat and inflammation, eliminating coldness, and releasing pain from the superficial and deeper levels of the body.
Gua sha is used to treat many acute and chronic health problems including colds and flu, fever, headache, indigestion, dizziness, injury, joint pain, fibromyalgia and heat exhaustion. It is also commonly performed to relax tight and aching muscles and to relieve tiredness and fatigue. The stroking action of Gua Sha to the points and channels can also be practised as a health enhancement method, and can even be performed through light clothing (without the intention of raising sha).
Sha is the term for the small reddish dots that emerge from the superficial or deeper levels of the body to the skin surface during Gua Sha treatment.
According to traditional Chinese medicine, Sha is produced when the regular flow of qi and blood becomes stagnant or blocked. This can be due to traumatic injury or to the penetration of adverse climatic factors such as wind or internal pathogenic conditions. In Chinese there is a famous medical saying that goes: "Where there is blockage of qi and blood, there is also pain."
Qi and blood are both warm by nature, so when these two become compressed, as happens with blockage or stagnation, heat manifests and concentrates into a new substance, which is sha. Sha and the associated discolouration also contains the pathogenic factor(s) responsible for the blockage, and when it has been released, normal integrity of the area is restored due to the qi and blood being able to resume flowing smoothly.
In the case of musculoskeletal conditions many people familiar with Gua Sha often have it performed as a first-line treatment, in the knowledge that ridding the body of sha takes out the irritant toxins that clog and cause pain.
After Gua Sha
Do not apply Gua Sha:
Source: Bruce Bentley Gua Sha : Smoothly scraping out the Sha http://www.healthtraditions.com.au/essays/gua-sha.htm
When treatment is effective, distinctive reddening of the skin, known as sha, is observed. This is a positive response and brings the immediate and lasting benefit of dispelling wind, reducing heat and inflammation, eliminating coldness, and releasing pain from the superficial and deeper levels of the body.
Gua sha is used to treat many acute and chronic health problems including colds and flu, fever, headache, indigestion, dizziness, injury, joint pain, fibromyalgia and heat exhaustion. It is also commonly performed to relax tight and aching muscles and to relieve tiredness and fatigue. The stroking action of Gua Sha to the points and channels can also be practised as a health enhancement method, and can even be performed through light clothing (without the intention of raising sha).
Sha is the term for the small reddish dots that emerge from the superficial or deeper levels of the body to the skin surface during Gua Sha treatment.
According to traditional Chinese medicine, Sha is produced when the regular flow of qi and blood becomes stagnant or blocked. This can be due to traumatic injury or to the penetration of adverse climatic factors such as wind or internal pathogenic conditions. In Chinese there is a famous medical saying that goes: "Where there is blockage of qi and blood, there is also pain."
Qi and blood are both warm by nature, so when these two become compressed, as happens with blockage or stagnation, heat manifests and concentrates into a new substance, which is sha. Sha and the associated discolouration also contains the pathogenic factor(s) responsible for the blockage, and when it has been released, normal integrity of the area is restored due to the qi and blood being able to resume flowing smoothly.
In the case of musculoskeletal conditions many people familiar with Gua Sha often have it performed as a first-line treatment, in the knowledge that ridding the body of sha takes out the irritant toxins that clog and cause pain.
After Gua Sha
- Have a glass of warm water.
- Do not shower or bathe within 8 hours after treatment. A cold water shower or bath should be avoided for at least 24 hours.
- It is important to keep all treatment areas covered up and warm. You should also be sure to keep away from windy conditions including fans and air-conditioning.
Do not apply Gua Sha:
- To people who are too weak to tolerate the treatment.
- To people with bleeding disorders.
- To people who are taking anti-coagulant medication, eg. warfarin.
- During pregnancy.
- Soon after surgery.
- Over varicose veins, skin disease or open wounds, scratches etc.
- To a person suffering from a serious communicable disease.
Source: Bruce Bentley Gua Sha : Smoothly scraping out the Sha http://www.healthtraditions.com.au/essays/gua-sha.htm
