Gua Sha – 刮 痧
Gua Sha is a traditional Oriental healing technique that used both in a clinical setting and at home.
“Gua” in Chinese means “to scrape”, and “Sha” means “reddish, sand-like skin rash”. Gua Sha is a technique that intentionally raises a “Sha” rash intended to release blood stagnation and promote normal circulation.
The first step in performing Gua Sha is to identify painful spots, often acupressure or acupuncture points, along the meridian pathway. Then, one uses any round-edged instrument or specialized Gua Sha implements and scrapes the skin in strokes until the skin exhibits a small red rash called “Sha”. This “Sha” will fade in 2-3 days.
The Gua Sha technique is used for many problems, such as pain, stiffness, cold, fever, cough, allergy, asthma, headache, nausea, menstrual cramping and so on.
Gua Sha Implement Materials
Gua Sha tools are made out of different materials because of their different energetic properties, as outlined in the following table:
|Material||Average Number of Ultrasonic Pulses||Frequency Range (kHz)|
The higher the number of ultrasonic pulses and the higher the emitted frequency, the more effective the Gua Sha tool to improve the circulation and the free the flow of energy.
Bian Stone – 砭 石
Bian stone is ancient traditional Chinese Medical treatment tool. The classic Chinese Medical book “Nei Jing” (Inner Classic) (Chinese Qin-Han dynasty 221BC-24AD) recorded “acupuncture, moxibustion, herbal medicine, Qigong and bodywork, Bian stone are the five basic treatment skills.”
Research has shown that Bian stone from Si Bin, Shan Dong Provence, China has the best quality and exhibits the traditionally valued properties best. Because quantity are now becoming limited, the price of Bian stone is rising up quickly.