Skin Scraping therapy or Gua Sha therapy has its roots in the Old Stone Age. Since then, it has been an indispensable part of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) in many Asian Cultures where it’s used to treat and prevent a variety of illnesses. According to TCM, stagnation results in disease, therefore, movement is key to health and healing.
Gua Sha self therapy (Health Scraping) is an everyday ritual for folks in several countries around the world. We use scraping over our clothes just as we use a loofa to rub our backs during a shower. To boost circulation and prevent illnesses, we use lotion or oil before or after we take a shower. When circulation of blood is increased in the site of restriction, irritation, or pain, healing commences due to nutrients and blood flooding into the interstitial space where one experiences pain.
This also allows toxins stuck in the tissue to be washed away causing a cycle of waste exchange to resume. Aside from enhancing blood circulation, Gua Sha is a tremendous way to dismantle scar tissue the causes diffuse achy pain, interstitial fluid movement obstruction, and limited movement of joints.
To gently scrape the surface of your skin tissue, a tool made from mineral stones like jade, buffalo horn, or smooth volcanic stone will be used by your massage therapist. Using massage lotion or oil, the treatment will produce an instant effect that boosts blood flow to the area experiencing tightness and/or pain. Sometimes a purplish red tiny speckled discoloration (petekei) will appear in some areas that look like a small dotted bruising. You should not worry when this appears since it simply means the Gua Sha treatment is working well on the site of stagnation. Within a few hours to a few days, the specking should heal by itself.
When utilizing Gua Sha, your practitioner may use a variety of Eastern and Western healing methods like compensation pattern identification, fascial plane evaluation, and Tissue stagnation to diagnose and heal your condition. If you’ve been getting massage and it feels like your progress has leveled off, Gua Sha may be your ticket to get over that allowing you to proceed with your treatment.
Synoma Wellness Centre
2150 Alt. 19, Suite B,
Palm Harbor, FL 34683
Phone: (727) 785-5950
www.palmharboracupuncture.com