Gua Sha is a common health maintenance method in daily life and is also one of the techniques in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Especially when people experience excessive internal heat, Gua Sha can effectively remove toxins and the sensation of heat from the body, helping individuals restore their health. After Gua Sha, the body often feels very relaxed. While many believe that Gua Sha is beneficial for health, there are certain contraindications and precautions that must be observed; appropriate application of Gua Sha can indeed be beneficial for health. Let’s take a look at the effects and benefits of Gua Sha, as well as its contraindications and precautions!
01
Effects and Benefits of Gua Sha
1. Promotes Metabolism and Eliminates Toxins
The human body continuously undergoes metabolic activities every day, and the waste produced during metabolism must be excreted in a timely manner. Gua Sha can effectively scrape the “waste” of metabolism to the surface of the skin, allowing it to accumulate in the subcutaneous pores, ensuring smooth blood flow and restoring natural metabolic vitality.
2. Relieves Muscle Tension and Opens Meridians
More and more people are suffering from cervical spondylosis, shoulder periarthritis, and lower back pain. This is often due to damage to the body’s soft tissues (joint capsules, ligaments, fascia), which causes muscles to be in a state of tension, contraction, or even spasm, leading to pain. If not treated in time, it can result in varying degrees of adhesion, fibrosis, or scarring, worsening the condition. Gua Sha can relieve muscle tension and eliminate pain, significantly reducing pain symptoms while also aiding in the recovery of the affected areas.
3. Balances Yin and Yang
“When Yin is balanced and Yang is secret, the spirit can be treated.” TCM emphasizes the balance of Yin and Yang in the body. Gua Sha has a bidirectional regulatory effect on bodily functions, improving and adjusting the functions of the organs to restore balance.
02
Contraindications and Precautions for Gua Sha
Contraindications for Gua Sha Therapy
Gua Sha should not be performed on the abdomen and lower back of pregnant women, nor on the nipples of women.
Individuals with heart disease and heart failure, renal failure, cirrhosis with ascites, or severe systemic edema should avoid Gua Sha.
Any skin with ulcers, injuries, or inflammation in the area to be treated is not suitable for this therapy.
It is also not advisable to perform Gua Sha on individuals who have just recovered from a serious illness, those with Qi deficiency and blood deficiency, or in states of fullness or hunger.
Precautions for Gua Sha
1. Understand the condition, apply differential diagnosis, and determine the area for scraping based on the diagnosis.
2. Techniques should be adapted according to the patient’s condition of deficiency or excess, cold or heat, and the internal or external state of Yin and Yang.
3. Gua Sha should not be performed on infants with unclosed fontanelles.
4. For individuals with varicose veins in the lower limbs, appropriate techniques should be applied from the bottom up, using gentle methods.
5. Individuals with low platelet counts (prone to bleeding) or those in critical condition should be cautious with Gua Sha.
6. Avoid performing Gua Sha in front of electric fans and try to avoid wind exposure.
7. Do not use alternative tools for Gua Sha (such as coins, plastic crystals, ceramics, or safflower oil).
8. The head and face do not require oil application; health maintenance Gua Sha can be performed through clothing; for therapeutic Gua Sha, specialized Gua Sha oil must be used.
9. After performing Gua Sha once, ensure that the Sha (red marks) has faded before scraping the same area again. Light scraping can be done regularly to promote microcirculation and enhance the detoxification effect.
10. After Gua Sha, drink a cup of warm water to replenish the fluids consumed and promote metabolism and detoxification.
11. Occasionally, there may be slight capillary bleeding during Gua Sha, which seeps into nearby tissues and is then absorbed; this is a normal response that can enhance resistance.
12. For those who are sensitive to pain, taking a hot bath or applying heat before Gua Sha can help reduce discomfort.
13. After Gua Sha, the sweat pores will be dilated; avoid cold showers for half an hour, and do not expose oneself to cold wind. Warm showers are acceptable, and it is fine to scrape while showering.
14. Gua Sha does not necessarily have to produce Sha; the appearance of Sha is an external manifestation of internal toxins. If the body is healthy, even vigorous Gua Sha may not produce Sha; conversely, even gentle techniques may result in noticeable Sha.
15. For health maintenance Gua Sha, oil is not necessary, and it is not required to produce Sha. Gently scrape each part of the body and each meridian in sequence for 3-10 minutes daily to naturally achieve the effects of strengthening the body and prolonging life.
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