Scraping Therapy (Gua Sha) is an ancient Chinese healing technique. Gua Sha can be used to treat heat-stroke, cold, fever, cough, bronchitis, asthma, emphysema, muscle pain, headache, nausea, diarrhea, digestive disorders, urinary, gynecological disorders, cholecystitis, as well as chronic disorders. Typically, if a health problem involving pain, or overheat in body with no sweat on the skin, or the patient has a stuffy feeling in the chest, back, head, shoulder or neck, then Gua Sha can be used to relieve the symptoms.
Gua means “scrape” in Chinese, and Sha means “sandy red spots on skin”. This scraping therapy is using a tool to scrape the skin to allow the toxins to escape through the skin, and therefore to cure the disease. Sha (sandy-looking objects on the skin) is the indication that toxicity is released to the surface of the skin after scraping. So essentially, Gua Sha is a “releasing therapy”.
How to Perform Gua Sha
1. Prepare a coin or soup spoon that has a smooth edge.
2. Let the patient sit or lay down.
3. Put some massage oil (or water) on the skin of the back or neck.
4. Place the smooth edge of the coin (or spoon) against the skin surface, scrape down firmly.
5. After lightly and gently scraping a few strokes, then apply a little more pressure, you will either see sandy red spots that appear on the skin or the patient will feel pain when you scrape the area. If there is not sandy red spot and the patient feels pain, you should try other areas until you can see the sandy-looking objects in red on the skin.
7. The patient’s symptom will be relieved when Sha appears on the skin.
Pain and Sha – indications
When scraping on an area, if there is Sha under the skin of the area, the patient will not feel pain. It indicates that you can continue to scrape the area until all of Sha is released onto the skin.
But when you scrape on an area, if the patient feels pain, it indicates that there is no Sha under the skin of the area, you should stop to scrape the area, and try other areas of the skin until Sha appears.
If after trying all areas, and no Sha appears, it indicates that there is no Sha under the skin, and this scraping therapy cannot cure the problem, then you should try other healing solutions.
