GUA SHA
What is Gua Sha?
Gua Sha is an alternative and natural therapy that involves scraping the skin with a specially designed massage tool to improve the circulation of blood. It is an ancient Chinese technique that offers a unique approach for better health and addresses other issues such as chronic pain.
This form of message is commonly performed on someone's back, neck, arms, legs and buttocks. A variation of this massage also exists for the face.
Some common benefits of Gua Sha:
- Gua Sha massage can reduce inflammation assisting against conditions such as chronic pain, arthritis and fibromyalgia and in any other conditions causing joint pain.
- Gua Sha can also relieve symptoms of Hepatitis B, a viral infection that affects the liver.
- Gua Sha has been shown to reduce the intensity of migraine type headaches, in cases where over the counter medicines may not work.
- Gua sha can also help relieve a condition known as breast engorgement, a condition more commonly happening within a couple weeks of childbirth, making it hard for infants to latch and gain their required sustenance.
- Gua Sha is also commonly known for relieving neck pain quite efficiently in clients.
Is Gua Sha a safe practice?
Yes, Gua Sha is completely safe, with the unfortunate exceptions for people utilising blood thinners or having a blood clotting disorder being advised against using Gua Sha, along with anyone who has had surgery in the last six weeks.
But it would be incorrect to state that there are no side effects, although minor with this form of massage. It should be known that Gua Sha is effective as any other massage, and will not injure or harm in anyway, but since it is a more physically unique massage in involving the rubbing and scraping of the skin, it can cause minor changes in appearance of the skin such as minor bruising, very minor bleeding and indents of the skin can sometimes occur. This will all heal within a few days but should be taken into consideration.
