Here’s why patients like Gua Sha:
1. It makes you feel better very quickly.
2. It helps to release toxins that have built up over time as a result of past injuries, poor diet, chemical and environmental exposure and emotional traumas.
3. It shows the practitioner exactly where you have stagnated energy!
Gua Sha is used whenever a patient has pain whether associated with an acute or chronic disorder. There may be aching, tenderness and/or a knotty feeling in the muscles. Palpation reveals Sha when normal finger pressure on a patient’s skin causes blanching that is slow to fade. In addition to resolving musculo skeletal pain, Gua Sha is used to treat as well as prevent common cold, flu, bronchitis, asthma, as well as any chronic disorder involving pain, congestion of Qi and Blood.
In most cases the patient feels an immediate shift in their condition particularly in their pain or sense of constraint. Gua Sha moves stuck Qi and Blood, releases the Exterior mimicking sweating, and moves Fluids. In a modern medical construct these fluids contain metabolic waste that congested the surface tissues and muscles. Gua Sha promotes circulation and normalizes metabolic processes. It is a valuable treatment for both external and internal pain, and facilitates the resolution of both acute and chronic disorders
Most patients don’t care about the bruising because Gua Sha is so amazing, it usually disappears within two days or less.
Gua sha actually pre-dates acupuncture and was used in villages as a means of self-care or a way to care for each other until the village doctor could make it out to see you. It can be used for any pain or discomfort, for upper respiratory or digestive problems, to create a smooth flow of Qi along an acupuncture meridian, to help clear toxins from the body or to stimulate the acupuncture points along any acupuncture channel.
Gua Sha is often used as an alternative to acupuncture needles, and is also very commonly used in children.