If you own a store that sells beauty tools like gua sha or if you frequently follow the gua sha market, you may notice a phenomenon: the increasing popularity of stainless steel gua sha tools, which are beginning to challenge the status of jade and quartz gua sha tools. So, stainless steel gua sha vs jade gua sha, which one is better?
Before we dive into the comparison about stainless steel gua sha vs jade gua sha, let’s briefly explain what gua sha is, its principles, and how it’s used. This will provide some context for our later comparison.
What is Gua Sha?
Gua sha is a traditional Chinese medical technique, also known as “scraping therapy” or “gua sha therapy.” It involves massaging and scraping the skin using specialized tools, typically a gua sha board with rounded edges, to promote blood circulation, alleviate pain, and improve overall health.
In gua sha therapy, a special lubricant is often applied to the patient’s back, waist, neck, or other body areas. Then, the gua sha board is used to apply pressure along the surface of the skin, stimulating blood flow and the body’s natural healing processes. This process results in red or dark red bruising on the skin’s surface, caused by the compression and concentration of blood vessels under the skin. These bruises typically fade within a few days.
Gua sha is believed to help relieve various pain symptoms such as muscle aches, joint pain, and headaches. It is also used to improve qi and blood circulation, enhance the immune system, and promote natural healing. However, gua sha is not a treatment suitable for everyone, so it’s best to consult a qualified medical professional or traditional Chinese medicine practitioner before trying it, and it should be performed by experienced professionals to avoid potential risks and complications.
The Principles of Gua Sha:
- Promoting blood circulation: Gua sha stimulates blood circulation by applying pressure to the skin’s surface, helping to dilate blood vessels and improve blood flow, which aids in delivering oxygen and nutrients to various parts of the body for recovery and repair.
- Enhancing lymphatic circulation: Gua sha also stimulates the lymphatic system, assisting in the removal of waste and toxins from the body. The lymphatic system is crucial for immune function and waste removal.
- Relieving muscle tension: Gua sha therapy can relax tense muscles, reducing muscle pain and discomfort. By applying appropriate pressure, it encourages muscle relaxation, aiding in the restoration of normal muscle function.
- Stimulating acupoints: During gua sha, specific acupoints on the body may also be stimulated. These acupoints are believed to be associated with various organs and functions in traditional Chinese medicine. Stimulating these acupoints can regulate the flow of qi and blood in the body, improving overall health.
- Reducing inflammation and immune modulation: Gua sha may result in skin surface bruising, which is thought to help reduce inflammation and enhance the immune system’s response, promoting natural healing.
How Gua Sha Is Used:
- Prepare Tools and Materials:
Gua sha board: Typically a flat board, often made of materials like jade, buffalo horn, plastic, or other substances.
Lubricant: Apply lubricant to the skin to reduce friction. Common options include vegetable oil, massage oil, or herbal lubricants.
- Prepare the Skin:
Patients typically lie in a comfortable position to facilitate access to the area to be treated.
Before gua sha, cleanse the skin and apply lubricant to ensure cleanliness and smooth movement.
- Perform Gua Sha:
A gua sha practitioner uses the gua sha board to apply moderate pressure to the skin, scraping in a specific direction. Typically, the scraping direction follows the flow of the lymphatic system or meridians.
Maintain a consistent angle during gua sha, usually around 45 degrees, to avoid skin damage.
Ensure even movement of the gua sha board, avoiding prolonged contact in one area to prevent excessive bruising or skin damage.
During gua sha, patients may experience some discomfort, but it should not be excessively painful.
- Observe Skin Reactions:
After gua sha, red or dark red bruises typically appear on the skin’s surface, indicating stimulated blood circulation.
These bruises usually fade within a few days, but it’s essential to monitor them for any abnormal skin reactions.
- Precautions:
Gua sha is not suitable for certain skin conditions, such as open wounds, severe itching, skin inflammation, or infections.
Avoid applying pressure to the spine or other fragile areas during gua sha.
If a patient experiences excessive discomfort or unusual bruising, gua sha should be stopped immediately, and a doctor should be consulted.
Based on the characteristics that gua sha tools must meet, let’s now compare stainless steel gua sha tools with jade gua sha tools in these three aspects:
- Smoothness:
Stainless steel gua sha and jade gua sha perform well in this aspect. Both surfaces meet the smoothness requirements for gua sha, making them evenly matched in this regard.
- Hardness:
The Mohs hardness of natural jade and crystals can reach 7 or higher, while stainless steel’s hardness is slightly lower. However, higher hardness does not necessarily translate to better performance in this context. As long as the minimum requirements are met, the hardness difference does not significantly affect the actual results. Both materials meet the required hardness standards, resulting in another tie.
- Harmful Substances:
Natural crystals and jade contain many harmless substances to the human body, and manufacturers generally avoid materials with harmful substances when selecting them. However, some unscrupulous vendors may choose materials with harmful substances to cut costs. The same principle applies to metal gua sha tools. As long as you select a qualified product, there should be no significant concerns about harmful substance residues. Once again, it’s a tie in this aspect.
So, when it comes to the characteristics gua sha tools must possess, stainless steel gua sha vs jade gua sha tools end up being evenly matched.
Stainless Steel Gua Sha vs Jade Gua Sha: Other Determining Factors
- Price:
The price difference between metal gua sha tools is not significant, with stainless steel being slightly more expensive than zinc alloy, typically around 10% higher. However, the price disparity between different types of natural crystals and jade is substantial, with the cheapest materials being a fraction of the cost of the most expensive ones. Overall, metal gua sha tools fall in the mid to upper range of prices when compared to jade and crystal gua sha tools.
The preference between the two depends on whether you seek the most cost-effective gua sha tool. In terms of price, natural crystal and jade have a slight advantage due to their diversity.
- Production:
In terms of production processes, metal gua sha tools are almost entirely mechanized, while crystal and jade gua sha tools typically involve semi-mechanized, semi-manual production methods. This gives metal gua sha tools an advantage in terms of production efficiency.
Moreover, in terms of the existing raw material stocks, metal materials are more abundant than crystal and jade materials.
So, in terms of production, stainless steel gua sha vs jade gua sha, stainless steel gua sha win!
- Durability:
In terms of durability, there is no doubt that metal gua sha tools excel. Natural crystal and jade materials are brittle and have a significant risk of shattering if dropped from a certain height. In contrast, metal gua sha tools, due to their higher toughness, will not shatter when dropped from a height but may deform within a certain range. Such deformation typically does not affect their normal use.
However, if you can avoid dropping and rough handling of gua sha tools, natural crystal and jade theoretically have a higher durability since metal materials may develop rust over time, even in the case of stainless steel.
In terms of durability, natural crystal and jade have a higher theoretical advantage, but in practical everyday use, metal gua sha tools tend to perform better.
So, Who is Better Between Stainless Steel Gua Sha VS Jade Gua Sha Tools?
Both materials have their strengths in different aspects, and neither has an absolute advantage over the other. Stainless steel gua sha vs jade gua sha results in a tie. Therefore, when choosing a gua sha tool, consider your priorities rather than solely aiming for metal or stone-based options.
