YOUR GUA SHA TREATMENT 

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When appropriate to the diagnosis and treatment strategy and deemed suitable for the patient,  Gua Sha is another Chinese Medicine modality that can be used either as a stand-alone treatment to relieve muscle pain and tightness in particular and more generally, several other conditions, or which can be incorporated into the acupuncture treatment during the same clinic session to compliment the needles' work and increase effectiveness of the treatment. 

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WHAT IS GUA SHA

Another Chinese Medicine therapeutic modality I use in my practice is Gua Sha, a little-known but powerful healing bodywork technique.

From a Chinese Medicine perspective, Gua Sha aims to remove stagnant Qi and Blood around the body.

In Chinese, 'Gua ' refers to a scraping motion and 'Sha ' refers to the redness that subsequently appears on the skin.

Gua Sha consists in a gentle, sustained, unidirectional scraping and stroking of the skin along the acupuncture channels or along the muscles with a flat smooth-edged instrument until red or purple dots called 'petechiae' appear on the surface of the skin.

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This redness, sometimes accompanied by minor bruising, can seem a bit impressive to patients, especially during their first treatment, but not to worry ! From a therapeutic point of view, it is a 'textbook' sign which shows that the treatment is working. The skin is not damaged in any way and the redness usually fades within a few days. 

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Indeed, the redness and bruising reflect increased blood and lymph circulation from the muscles and fascia towards the surface of the body (in the 'subcutis')  induced by the scraping motion and removal of toxins from the deeper tissues, and usually fade within hours or days , depending on the amount of previous lymph and blood stagnation and muscle tension and tightness in the treated areas. ​

This physiology of Gua Sha can explain why post-treatment, patients report a variety of sensations such as an instant feeling of relief, or decreased pain, or an improved range of motion for previously painful joints or areas. 

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Gua Sha can be used anywhere on the body for pain but is typically mostly used on the back, neck, arms and legs. 

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In the last decade, clinical research has started to clarify the mechanisms behind Gua Sha' s physiologic effects , among others:

• an increase of local blood surface circulation 

• anti-inflammatory effects 

• a stimulation of an immune protective response that can persist for days following treatment.

and this participates in Gua Sha' s growing popularity and relevance in the modern acupuncture clinic. 

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In particular, Gua Sha is said to help in the :

• treatment of acute or chronic  tightness and pain (headaches, back, neck pain, carpal tunnel syndrome...). It works wonders on knotted muscles !

• prevention or  assistance in the treatment of respiratory conditions such as cough, the common cold , asthma, bronchitis...

• manual break-up of adhesions from injury or surgery 

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