Ask the Acupuncturist

Question: I once saw an acupuncturist who used a small black tool to scrape across my back. He said it would help my back pain and it did, amazingly! What was that and do you guys do it?

Answer: Your acupuncturist was using a technique in Chinese medicine called "Gua Sha." Gua sha is loosely translated as “to scrape sand.” It is a common technique in Chinese Medicine and is also a common folk remedy in places like China, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

Gua Sha is performed by putting an oil or lubricant on the skin and then scraping the skin with a rounded tool. Traditionally, a soup spoon, coin, piece of jade, or part of an animal horn is used to do the scraping. The tool is placed on the skin and then scraped along the surface of the skin, which causes petechiae—small red skin bumps (hence the term “sha” or sand), which usually fade in 2-4 days. The marks may look painful, but they are not, and neither is the procedure.

Gua sha is used when person has what we call in Chinese medicine “blood stagnation.” Literally, this means that when blood isn’t flowing optimally, it becomes stuck in the surface fascia and causes pain. When gua sha is applied, the petechiae are an indication of blood stagnation, and the technique itself is used move the stagnant blood, relieve pain, and increase circulation and metabolic processes.

Gua sha is usually performed on the back, neck and shoulders and is used to treat conditions such as pain, stiffness, cold, flu, fever, and digestive complaints, to name a few. And yes, it is absolutely a tool in our toolbox at TAC!

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