Have you heard of Gua Sha? guasha, whether you know it or not, is now sweeping the world with an unstoppable trend. Received the love of countless people. Today, you can still see countless beauty bloggers on various social media hyping the magical powers of Gua Sha!
Today, no matter how much you know about gua sha, you will receive a lot of knowledge about guasha from here. Let’s get down to business.
5 Things You Must Know About Gua Sha
1. The History of Gua Sha
Of course, the introduction of any thing cannot be without ignoring its history. guasha has a very long history, dating back thousands of years. The formation of gua sha is very accidental.
In ancient China, people lacked medicines and methods to treat diseases. One day, it was found that a hot stone was placed on the patient, and the pain was relieved significantly. This is the origin of guasha. Later, people continuously improved this therapy and formed the prototype “Bianstone therapy” of gua sha. Finally formed the current guasha therapy. This is the general development of gua sha therapy. However, this statement still needs more research, because it is only a folk statement, and there is not enough literature records.
2. About the Curative Effect of Gua Sha.
There are many curative effects of gua sha. It basically involves all diseases based on “Qi and blood” in traditional Chinese medicine.
- Promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis, guasha can regulate muscle contraction and relaxation, so that the pressure between tissues can be adjusted to promote blood circulation around gua sha tissues. Increase tissue flow, thereby playing the role of “activating blood and removing blood stasis” and “removing blood stasis and regenerating new ones”.
- The back gua sha therapy has a good effect on painful diseases, colds and fever, sub-health state, disease prevention and health care, and mild visceral dysfunction.
- Relaxing tendons and dredging collaterals, gua sha the back, eliminates the pain lesions, and also eliminates muscle tension; if the tense muscles are relaxed, the pain and compression symptoms can also be significantly reduced or eliminated, and at the same time, it is beneficial to the repair of the lesions.
- Eliminate toxins, the gua sha process (using guasha to make the skin out of the skin) can make the local tissue form highly congested, the blood vessels and nerves are stimulated to dilate the blood vessels, the blood flow and lymph fluid are increased, the phagocytosis and transporting force are strengthened, and the wastes in the body are strengthened. , to accelerate the elimination of toxins, so as to purify the blood, increase the body’s resistance, can reduce the disease and promote recovery.
In addition to treating diseases, Gua Sha also has a very good effect on facial beauty. For example, reduce dark circles, bags under the eyes and wrinkles. This is one of the main reasons why it is so popular.
3. The disadvantages of gua sha.
- Where there are boils, ulcers, sores and carbuncles, rashes and unexplained masses on the body surface, Chinese medicine guasha therapy is prohibited, otherwise it will lead to wound infection and spread. TCM gua sha therapy is not recommended for acute sprains, trauma or fractures, as TCM gua sha therapy will aggravate the bleeding at the wound.
- Patients with severe cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, liver and kidney insufficiency, and systemic edema. Because Chinese medicine guasha therapy will make people’s subcutaneous congestion and promote blood circulation, which will increase the burden on the heart, lungs, liver and kidneys, and aggravate the disease.
4. Material selection for Gua Sha
There are many gua sha materials on the market today. It can be roughly divided into the following categories: natural stone, biological material (buffalo horn), metal and plastic resin. Among these materials, natural stone accounts for the highest proportion and is also the most popular. Followed by metal and plastic. The current market share of buffalo materials is decreasing due to the topic of animal protection.
In addition to the professional guasha tools sold on the market, some things in our daily life can also be used as gua sha tools, such as ceramic spoons. These devices can also play a role as part of your daily gua sha routine.
How to choose the right guasha material? Refer to the following priorities: Stone > Metal > Buffalo Horn > Plastic, Resin.
5. How to Use Gua Sha
We divide it into two parts to explain: 1 is the traditional gua sha, which is mainly aimed at the back, otherwise, the legs and other body areas. 2. It is the most popular facial beauty gua sha.
The gua sha site determines whether it is the cervical spine, the back or the waist. Dip an appropriate amount of guasha oil on the gua sha board and apply it evenly on the gua sha area. from top to bottom. Each part is generally scraped 20 to 30 times, and local guasha is generally 5 to 10 minutes.
Intensity of Gua Sha Gua Sha always maintains pressing pressure, and the force is transmitted to the deep tissue. The intensity is determined according to the patient’s condition and tolerance. For some people who are not prone to develop Sha or have less Sha, do not force the occurrence of Sha. The key points of guasha should be centered on the acupoint, and the total length of the upper and lower parts should be about 10-15 cm. For example, the cervical vertebra gua sha should be centered on Fengchi and Dazhui (Fengchi is located on both sides of the back occiput into the 1-inch depression of the hairline; Dazhui point is on the posterior midline, in the depression under the spinous process of the 7th cervical vertebra); shoulder guasha is centered on Jianjing point (Jianjing point is on the shoulder, at the midpoint of the line connecting Dazhui point and the acromion end). Longer meridians can be scraped in sections, such as the Governor Vessel and the Bladder Meridian.
During the gua sha process, ask if there is any discomfort, observe the local skin color and adjust the technique and strength in time. After guasha, drink a cup of warm water, rest for 20-30 minutes, and keep warm.
There are four main areas: forehead, eyes, face and jaw. Follow the principle of guasha from the bottom to the top, from the inside out. Repeat 15-20 times per area. Use softer pressure.
It is best to use with your favorite serum or lotion to avoid damage to the face.
5 Misunderstandings About Gua Sha:
1. Gua Sha Must Have “Sha Points”?
No, Gua Sha does not necessarily require the appearance of “Sha”. Maybe you have seen a lot of renderings about guasha in many places. Almost every experiencer on the picture will have the phenomenon of “Sha”, so many people subconsciously have the illusion that “Sha” will inevitably appear when gua sha. First, let’s understand what “Sha” is.
“Sha” in Chinese medicine represents bad substances in the body, congestion, toxins, etc. gua sha is to scrape these substances out of the body. But everyone’s physical condition is different, some people may have a lot of harmful substances in their bodies, but some people have very little or no. Not only are there differences between people, but even different areas of the same person can be significantly different.
Therefore, when we are doing guasha, we should not pursue too much “extraction”. Rather, it should be based on its own circumstances to formulate appropriate standards. Especially for the gua sha on the face, there must be no “Sha” phenomenon.
2. Gua Sha Must Go to A Professional Gua Sha Massage Center?
Many people think that gua sha must go to a professional gua sha massage center, which is safer and more effective. Yes but not all. In terms of effects, a professional guasha massage center can indeed bring you better gua sha effects (whether in terms of treatment or facial beauty). But if you only use gua sha as a daily beauty aid, then you do not need to go to a professional guasha massage center to experience it. (The cost of time and money is high.) You only need to have a set of your own gua sha tools. But in the following situations, a professional guasha massage center is the best choice:
- Treat the symptoms of muscle soreness such as shoulders and legs.
- Treat injuries and fascial adhesions caused by sports.
- People who do not know their own situation and have no basic understanding of the use of gua sha.
- Want to experience a deeper facial beauty gua sha
As the saying goes, professional things are left to professional people.
3. The More Expensive the Gua Sha Tool, Better?
Maybe you have read a lot of articles about guasha tools, and many of them have sections recommending gua sha tools. Almost everyone who writes this will write something like “don’t buy jade scrapers under $50 because they might be fakes”. Although the phrase “cheap is not good” has been deeply ingrained in many people’s hearts. But does buying a real jade guasha, the latter say other natural stone gua sha tools really cost the $50 exorbitant price? of course not! As a leading gua sha wholesale factory in China, I feel that we are qualified to tell you about the price.
At present, there are two main types of jade gua sha boards on the market: one is a green jade guasha board made of serpentine jade, and the other is a dark green nephrite gua sha board made of nephrite jade. Both materials are real jade. The price of jade guasha boards made of serpentine jade is very low (less than the wholesale price of $1.5/piece), while the price of gua sha boards made of nephrite jade is relatively higher, but there is no difference of 5 times (that is, no more than $7).
Of course, the above price is the wholesale price, so it is more retail price, so it will be much more expensive than the wholesale price. How much will the cost be? Let’s do a rough calculation. with our trading experience. For goods sent to the United States, each guasha board will usually increase the logistics cost by 1 USD on the original basis (the more the number of goods, the lower the unit cost). Of course, logistics costs in other regions will be higher.
So in fact the cost that the middleman spends when he receives the goods will add 1-3 dollars to the price of the product on the basis of the cost. Coupled with some store costs, labor costs and platform costs, the final cost per unit of gua sha board will increase by about $4-7.
So can you get a natural jade gua sha board for less than $50? sure! If someone says no to you, it’s most likely that he’s promoting a product in his store.
Moreover, if it is a pure natural crystal or jade gua sha board, the difference in effect between different materials is not obvious. Whether it is the expensive amethyst guasha board or the cheap green jade gua sha board, the effects are basically the same, and there is no obvious difference between them.
4. You Cannot Take A Bath on the Day of Gua Sha.
This is a one-sided view. Although we have also said in many articles about this precaution not to take a shower immediately after gua sha. But this is a requirement in some specific cases. How to judge whether you can take a bath after guasha, the most important point is to observe whether the user’s body has the phenomenon of “sha”. If so, the user is indeed best not to take a bath for 24 hours. However, if there is no obvious “sha” spot and the skin is red and swollen, you can take a bath after using the gua sha for a few hours. If it is a simple facial guasha, then it will not affect your bathing problem in the slightest.
5. Will Gua Sha Cause Irreversible Damage?
In response to this problem, we still need to analyze on a case-by-case basis. If it’s guasha for the face, like we mentioned earlier. Facial beauty gua sha will not cause any damage to the face, and naturally there will be no irreversible damage and scarring.
But when we apply strong gua sha to the body part, the skin surface of the body is easily damaged, especially when “sha” appears. However, this condition generally improves and disappears in a short period of time, so there will be no irreversible damage and scarring. But individual groups, such as people with coagulation disorders and people with scarring constitution. These people have a high probability of irreversible damage after using guasha. For this group of people, we do not recommend guasha. If necessary, it must be evaluated and operated by a professional doctor.
