You may need seen Instagram influencers scraping their our bodies or faces with easy stones or steel instruments to assist (as they declare) promote blood circulate and vary of movement, and even relieve minor ache or soreness. The standard Chinese language medication follow, referred to as gua sha, is touted as a type of lymphatic drainage therapeutic massage.
However earlier than you attempt gua sha for your self, there are some stuff you would possibly wish to know. Does it actually work? What does the analysis present? Are you able to DIY at residence? (And must you?)
Right here’s what you have to know in case you’re pondering of making an attempt gua sha for the primary time or making it part of your restoration routine.
What Is Gua Sha?
Gua sha is a follow in conventional Chinese language medication that dates again roughly 1,800 years. It’s primarily a therapeutic massage: A practitioner rubs your physique (or an space) with heat oil then makes use of a worn coin or spoon to briskly rub your pores and skin in lengthy strains. Different fashionable supplies for these therapeutic massage instruments embody rose quartz, jade, and steel.
Gua sha can be referred to as “coining” or “scraping” within the US, says Theresa Marko, PT, DPT, MS, a health care provider of bodily remedy and proprietor of Marko Bodily Remedy in New York Metropolis.
To get conventional gua sha, you’ll want to go to a standard Chinese language medication practitioner or acupuncturist. Nonetheless, there are a few comparable practices utilized by different health-care professionals, explains Marko.
Chiropractors use the Graston approach, which mixes gua sha and fashionable myofascial launch. Bodily therapists use “instrument-assisted gentle tissue mobilization” (IASTM). Each therapies use stainless-steel instruments. Whereas all three scrape the pores and skin utilizing instruments, the intention is totally different. The Graston approach and IASTM deal with myofascial launch, or breaking apart scar tissue and muscle adhesions.
Gua sha “seems to be at ache as a symptom of imbalance,” explains Aliks Ok. Lessa, LAC, a licensed acupuncturist. It targets tight muscle mass with the purpose of shifting “stagnant” blood, lowering inner warmth, and shifting unfavorable power within the physique. Nonetheless, the follow can depart behind crimson streaks and even some damaged blood vessels at instances.
Does Gua Sha Assist With Muscle Aches?
Since gua sha is a type of therapeutic massage, Marko says it’s, in her skilled expertise, “actually good for assuaging [soreness] from a muscle that is likely to be in spasm or too tight.”
Utilizing gua sha instruments to scrape the pores and skin in spots the place you’re sore “coaxes the physique to launch that deeply embedded pressure,” explains Lessa, and provides some components of acupressure, too.
Analysis is proscribed however exhibits promise. In a small research, individuals with power neck ache handled with gua sha confirmed enhancements after every week of therapy. In addition they had much less ache whereas shifting than these not given the therapy.
A research on power low again ache discovered comparable enhancements in ache scores after gua sha. Nonetheless, these research are small, with no placebo, so the outcomes aren’t definitive.
Gua sha doesn’t work on all muscle mass, says Marko, because it’s a superficial therapy.
“Should you wanted one thing deeper, like your piriformis muscle in your buttock space, scraping wouldn’t actually get to it,” she says. For these kinds of aches, she recommends different types of therapeutic massage or bodily remedy.
How Typically Ought to You Gua Sha?
Lessa suggests getting gua sha as soon as every week to assist ease muscle pressure. The bruising and crimson streaking is regular, Lessa confirms, however she needs them to heal totally earlier than her purchasers come again. “Ordinarily, every week is sufficient time for that to happen,” she says. You’ll be able to combine gua sha with different merchandise to alleviate sore muscle mass.
What Instruments Are Used For Gua Sha?
It is best to solely get gua sha from a educated skilled. Right here’s a peek on the instruments they may use:
Curler instrument
Among the many gua sha instruments, the curler is likely to be the preferred and recognizable. It usually comes with a giant and small aspect, with the smaller aspect used for extra strain or exact scraping.
S-shaped instrument
Lessa explains this one is flexible, “working round high quality bones just like the ankles, wrists, and vertebrae, but additionally for wider extra muscular areas of the physique like forearms, calves, and hips.”
Wing- or fin-type instrument
This instrument is greatest for areas with “extra muscle and fewer bone protrusion,” akin to the edges of the neck, backs of the legs, and stomach.
Dolphin-shape instrument
Lessa makes use of the flat edge for bigger areas, just like the IT band, and the dolphin edge for “curving round delicate bones just like the shoulder blades, collar bone, knees, and ankles.” One other widespread space to be used is the jawline.
Fish-shape instrument
Lessa likes this as a facial instrument, to “work round small, delicate bones just like the brows and nostril” and even the cheekbone.
Spoon-type instrument
The spoon aspect is ideal for scraping painful areas whereas the smaller aspect can be utilized for acupressure.