gua sha

[Jay John]

I know some of you have heard of this......

I wrote a bit about it with pictures if you like to learn more. I haven't figured out how to put pictures on here so here is a link to the article and pics.

http://asianbodyworktherapies.blogspot.com/2007/08/gua-sha.html

 

[gummybear]

It takes the right client to do gua sha. My clients wouldnt want that done to their back, I wouldnt either! Do the really scrape the whole back?? I have done gua sha in school and had it done to me then too. Seriously tho, that guys back looks terrible!

 

[Pompal 09.]

I wouldnt' always do the whole back but his case if different.

His looks so bad because of his presenting conditions.

 

[Pika Chu]

I've had and done guasha, but only over a small area. One of the times I had it done to me, it looked just like the picture over my whole left shoulder and took 5-6 days to fade. Other areas that were scraped DID NOT MARK. So it really is indicative of an issue in the area.

Cupping can produce the same results but effects a slightly deeper layer. Guasha is excellent for blood seforum.xxxnation and adhesions in the superficial layers of fascia.

Thanks for the LhasaOMS website link, softie! It looks like there are some great resources and tools there.

 

[Pompal 09.]

How big is the putty knife or razor blade that you use to do the scraping? Or maybe a better question is: What do you use to scrape?

 

[Geoff]

Razor blade? Goodness no.

As stated in the article, one uses a coin, round edge metal lid, a spoon or any tool sold specifically for gua sha.

Breathe, how did your shoulder feel after the gua sha? I also do cupping and yes, I agree. I started with an article on gua sha because it doesn't require special tools so anyone can do it. Cupping can be done with household things to I suppose! I was told in a pinch you can use a baby food jjar. lol

 

[Loser]

I've got a lot of adhesions and seforum.xxxnation in the left shoulder, so that really broke it up. After the first session I felt quite crampy for about 4 days - meaning that it would feel loosened up, then the normal tightness. It cycled through pretty quick, and after a few days it stayed looser.

We moved on to cups after that, and it continues to help.

You can use household items for cupping I guess, but you have to be very careful there are no burrs on the glass... baby food jar edges (or marmalade jars) are not designed to have a perfectly smooth edge, only smooth enough to be safe to casual handling. Thick-walled glass cups, OTOH are inexpensive $2- $3/ea and have that very smooth, wide edge.

For guasha I use a wooden measuring spoon. It has a comfortable handle, and room inside the bowl for my thumb to grip, with a nice rounded edge for the scraping.

 

[Pop]

I personally have glass cups for cupping as well as plastic. What I use depends on what I am going to do. (Plus what is handy)

The baby food jar was an idea in an emergency event, like a insect bite, you could use that to cup to draw out vinem.

 

[dumdum]

I had a client that received gua sha nearly every week. It was disconcerting at first, but we were able to establish a protocol to accommodate the variety of therapies he was receiving (also including chiropractic and acupuncture). I found interesting referral patterns that correlated with some of his gua sha marks, including some that defied Travell's standard trigger point charts.

Interesting stuff, but I haven't received it myself. It would be interesting to see how it compares to chiropractic's Graston Technique.

 

[Lisa W]

So.....looks like when you get right down to it, it is a more intense form of MFR. The red marks are vasodilation, right?

 

[Stan]

Jason, in my training, gua sha should not be done weekly. As for the chiro. you mention, looks like he just modernized guasha. I also found a PT selling a tool and giving his gua sha technique a new name so he could market it.

Funny how these things happen.

 

[Suzy]

Graston is significantly different than guasha, though the appearance of the skin after treatment is similar.

Graston focuses on scar tissue, and sinks into the adhesions quite deeply, often near a bony prominence to get additional leverage and "break" the adhesion. It's nearly always focused on a particular area (or 2) of injury. It is very intense and often painful.

Guasha opens up the superficial fascia, whether there is scar tissue or not, is gentle (though it looks scary) and is not looking to "break" anything.

Mick, the red marks are pettichae, not just vasodilation. The TCM view is that it is "sha" or very simplisticly: blood/qi imbalance. The color and depth of the sha tells the practitioner what imbalance is presenting, ie: blood stasis, blood deficiency, qi seforum.xxxnation, wind invasion, dry blood, excessive heat... (all TCM concepts of course, and not at all like our western medicine.)

On a purely biomechanical level, the technique it most resembles is intense myofascial release.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Feel free to check out the update on how my friends back looks 2 days later.

http://asianbodyworktherapies.blogspot.com/2007/08/gua-sha-update.html



Have a wonderful evening everyone.