The scraping along muscles and/or acupuncture channels stimulates blood flow and helps to clear metabolic waste and congestion in the underlying tissues. It pushes blood out of the tiny capillaries allowing fresh blood to flow in.
Gua Sha cools the patient who feels too warm and warms the patient who feels too cold, and it can be applied to reduce fevers.
The benefits of Gua Sha are numerous as it promotes blood flow to the muscles, tissues and organs. When the "gua" (pression in repeated, even strokes) is applied the "sha" appears as small red dots called petechiae.
The "sha" acts as a diagnostic tool with the colour providing important information about a patient’s condition from a Chinese Medicine perspective.
The "sha" normally disappears in two to three days after treatment but is the pain relief and other beneficial effects lasts even after the sha is completely gone.
Gua Sha can also be done on the face with a much gentler technique as the aim is not pain relief but to move circulation and lymph for the complexion or even helping with congestion and sinusitis.
