Gua Sha

What is Gua Sha? (pronounced "gwashah")

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A natural treatment with its roots in traditional Chinese medicine. It pre dates Acupuncture with the first computed record dating back to about 700 years ago during the era of the Ming Dynasty.

It is the use of Gua Sha massage tool to scape the skin. The tools come in many different shapes and sizes and can be made from different materials including Rose quartz, Jade, or Stainless steel.

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What does Gua Sha do?

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Gua Sha stimulates the microcirculation and is said to awaken meridian lines to activate the body's own healing mechanism.

It sculpts and tones the face allowing inflammation to drain and muscles to become free of tension enabling them to do their supportive jobs properly. It also helps the skin to become more radiant  as circulation is increased, sending nutrients to areas that may have been starved because of blockages  and improves collagen stimulation.

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What are the benefits of Gua sha?

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• Promotes natural healing

• Removes tension in muscles

• Boosts circulation - carries nutrient rich and oxygenated blood (food for the cells) to the skin and tissue

• Helps break up fascia (connective tissue that hugs muscles and can interfere with circulation)

• Lifts and tightens the skin

• Softens wrinkles

• Brightens the complexion

• Opens sinuses

• Plumps skin to give a radiant complexion

• Can help to eliminate dark circles and under eye bags

• Greatly speeds the healing time of breakouts and pimples.

The Science bit.

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So finally there is some hard scientific evidence of the effectiveness of Gua Sha. It’s no surprise to the millions of Asian families who have been using it all their lives and the therapists who see such amazing results in their clinics, but it’s news in the scientific community.

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Dr. Gustav Dobos and his team conducted research on Gua Sha at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Essen, Germany. There they performed one of the first investigations on the physiology of Gua Sha: measuring changes in micro perfusion of surface tissue. From that first investigation have come other biomarker studies;

The results of studies conducted by this group of researchers were published in the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and other scientific medical publications such as Pain Medicine.

The effect of Gua Sha treatment on the microcirculation of surface tissue: a pilot study in healthy subjects

Arya Nielsen, Nicola T M Knoblauch, Gustav J Dobos, Andreas Michalsen, Ted J Kaptchuk

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17905355/

What did the research show? Is there really clinical evidence that Gua Sha works? Nielsen answers:

“We found a 400% increase in micro perfusion (surface circulation of blood) for 7.5 minutes following Gua Sha, and a significant increase for the full 25 minutes following treatment that was studied

Gua Sha’s therapeutic petechiae represents blood cells that have extravasated in the capillary bed, and measure as a significant increase in surface microperfusion. As this blood is reabsorbed, the breakdown of haemoglobin upregulates HO-1, CO, biliverdin and bilirubin, which are anti-inflammatory and cytoprotective.

Studies show the anti-inflammatory effect of Gua Sha has a therapeutic impact in inflammatory conditions, such as active chronic hepatitis, where liver inflammation indicates organ breakdown that over time can lead to premature death. The physiology of HO-1 may also explain Gua Sha’s anti-inflammatory effect in other responsive clinical conditions, such as fever, cough, asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, mastitis , gastritis, musculoskeletal and other painful conditions presenting as neck pain, back pain, migraine, postherpetic neuralgia, and others.” (Arya Nielsen, 2015)

Researchers have carried out small studies on the following groups of people to see if Gua Sha works:

Women near menopause

Women found that perimenopause symptoms, such as sweating, insomnia, and headaches, were reduced after Gua Sha.

Effect of Gua Sha therapy on perimenopausal syndrome: a randomized controlled trial

https://journals.lww.com/menopausejournal/Abstract/2017/03000/Effect_of_Gu  a_sha_therapy_on_perimenopausal.10.aspx

Cai, G.-Y., Chen, Q.-W., Lin, L.-H., & Yao, Z.-Y. (2018). Gua Sha therapy for treating perimenopausal syndrome: Protocol for a systematic review. European Journal of Integrative Medicine, 17, 40–44.

Ren, Q., Yu, X., Liao, F., Chen, X., Yan, D., Nie, H., ... Zhou, X. (2018). Effects of Gua Sha therapy on perimenopausal syndrome: A systematic review and meta- analysis of randomized controlled trials. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 31, 268–277.

People with neck and shoulder pain from computer use

A 2014 study found that Gua Sha improved the range of movement and reduced pain in people who used computers frequently compared with a control group that had no treatment.

In a clinical trial of 48 patients over the age of 50 who experienced severe chronic neck pain were asked to use Gua Sha on their neck as a form of treatment for one day. Reportedly, neck pain severity improved for the entire week following the treatment and provided short term benefits for chronic neck pain.

‘Immediate effects of Gua Sha therapy for reducing neck and shoulder pain associated with myofascial trigger point in computer users’

https://he01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/ams/article/view/66337

Male weightlifters, to help with recovery after training

In a 2017 study, weightlifters who had Gua Sha felt that lifting weights took less effort after treatment. This could suggest that the treatment speeds up muscle recovery. 44 male weightlifters received 16 sessions of Gua Sha therapy during their normal weight-lifting training for 8 weeks. One group was assigned therapy while another group didn’t participate in therapy of any kind. The effectiveness of the treatment was evaluated by measuring their weightlifting ability. The end result reflected that the group which participated in the Gua Sha therapy showed a significant increase in their weightlifting ability. “Gua Sha therapy can facilitate weightlifting ability, reduce the RPE (Rating of Perceived Exertion), and inhibit muscle injury by promoting recovery from fatigue caused by normal weightlifting training.”

‘Gua Sha improves the rating of perceived exertion scale score and reduces heart rate variability in male weightlifters: a randomized controlled trial’

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0254627217300262#!

Older adults with back pain

Older adults with back pain were treated with either Gua Sha or a hot pack. Both treatments relieved symptoms equally well, but the effects of Gua Sha lasted longer. After a week, those who had received Gua Sha treatment reported greater flexibility and less back pain than the other group.

The effects of Gua Sha on symptoms and inflammatory biomarkers associated with chronic low back pain: A randomized active-controlled crossover pilot study in elderly’

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28619301/

Saha, F. J., Brummer, G., Lauche, R., Ostermann, T., Choi, K.-E., Rampp, T., ... Cramer, H. (2019). Gua Sha therapy for chronic low back pain: A randomized controlled trial. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 34, 64–69.

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