Understanding Gua Sha

November 21, 2022

This Is Why You Should Gua Sha

Gua Sha is an ancient Chinese healing technique, which offers a unique approach to help reduce acne, get rid of puffiness, improve elasticity, relax stiff muscles, and promote tissue drainage. Gua Sha is a natural, alternative therapy that involves scraping your skin with a massage tool to improve your circulation. Gua Sha has its roots in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and has been around for thousands of years as a way to help symptoms of various ailments. It has renewed attention recently from beauty influencers raving about its supposed facial benefits to become a cult beauty trend.

How does Gua Sha work?

Gua sha is supposed to heal stagnant energy, called chi, in the face or body that practitioners believe may be responsible for inflammation. Inflammation is the underlying cause of several conditions associated with chronic pain. Rubbing the surface of the skin is thought to help break up this energy, reduce inflammation, and promote healing.

In gua sha, if done professionally, a technician scrapes your skin with short or long strokes to stimulate microcirculation of the soft tissue. This increases blood flow. They make these strokes with a smooth-edged instrument known as a gua massage tool. The technician applies massage oil to your skin, and repeatedly uses the tool to scrape your skin in a downward motion. A gentler version of this can be used on the face as a facial technique.

The Benefits of Gua Sha

Gua Sha may reduce inflammation. Because of this it is often used to treat ailments that cause chronic pain, like arthritis and fibromyalgia. For your face, gua sha has seen to promote blood circulation, iprove fine lines and wrinkles, promote lymphatic drainage, and also relieve tension from your muscles. In contrary to what you may have learned on TikTok, gua sha cannot enhance a user's jawline. Instead, gua sha works by engaging tissue to eliminate fluid build-up in the lymph nodes, which gives the look of a more contoured face. It does not actually permanently remove fat from the certain areas.

Are there side effects from the Gua Sha?

Gua sha is a natural healing remedy and it is safe. It is not meant to be painful, but it effects everyone differently and may change the appearance of your skin. Because it involves rubbing or scraping skin with a massage tool, tiny blood vessels known as capillaries near the surface of your skin can burst. This can result in skin bruising, which usually disappears in a couple of days. If you are going to gua sha make sure you do it properly, which involves research! This is meant to ameliorate the appearance of your skin, not damage it!