Health Benefits of Gua Sha

There have been many kinds of traditional medicine that have resurfaced and have experienced a surge of popularity in recent years. One of those popular types of traditional medicine is Gua Sha, and although it is well-known among those that practice and apply traditional Chinese medicine or TCM, not a lot of people actually know what Gua Sha is and what it does. If you are curious as to the functions of Gua Sha, here are some details about this unique tool for traditional medicine and its health benefits.

What is Gua Sha?

Gua sha will for sure make you look younger if you do it at home. Its secret superpower though is relieving pain when in the hands of a well-trained provider.” – Hillary Talbott & Emily Armstrong, Co-Founders of Art of Acupuncture.

Gua Sha is a type of TCM or traditional Chinese medicine wherein a specific tool is used to scrape the skin of sore areas of the body in order to release “unhealthy matter” from those afflicted areas. According to practitioners of Gua Sha, this procedure is utilized in order to stimulate proper blood flow to the areas, as they believe that sore muscles and organs are caused by blood stasis, where the circulation of blood is slowed down or impeded due to a certain disruption to the qi or energy of the heart.

The aftereffects of applying Gua Sha to the body are red spots on the skin where the scraping tool is used. Most Gua Sha practitioners use jade stones to apply pressure while scraping the skin. By applying pressure, the jade stone is said to be effective in relieving pain and tension from sore muscles. As previously stated, Gua Sha is originally a part of traditional Chinese medicine, but it has now become quite well-known in other countries, so you may find several massage parlors that offer Gua Sha massages for their customers. So, it would be no surprise that you may see Gua Sha Australia spots if you are living in the “Land Down Under.”

While Gua Sha stones or jade stones are primarily used to ease back pain and act as a form of massage, they are also utilized for the face, particularly to encourage good blood circulation to make the skin on the face healthier. Because there have been many testimonies regarding the effectiveness of Gua Sha stones for cosmetic purposes, using Gua Sha stones on the face has been more popular now compared to traditional Gua Sha. Today, there are a variety of stones that can be utilized for Gua Sha facial massages, like rose quartz, amethyst, and Bian stone, which are supposed to have different benefits from jade stones.

What are the Benefits of Gua Sha?

black Gua Sha stone

Besides stimulating proper blood flow on sore muscles and organs of the body, Gua Sha also has other benefits that not many people know about. Here are the health benefits of Gua Sha.

Helps Your Face Look Slimmer

By massaging your face using Gua Sha stones regularly, you will be able to make your face look slimmer in just a few months. This benefit is possible because Gua Sha stone could help the muscles on your face tighten, so there wouldn’t be any excess spaces on your face that will make you look bloated.

Lightens Your Skin Tone

Besides making your face look slimmer, Gua Sha facial tools are also effective in brightening your face so you would look younger and more blooming. To achieve this feat, Gua Sha stone would usually stimulate not only good blood flow but also proper collagen production, which is needed by our body to maintain the healthiness of our skin to prevent dryness and wrinkles.

Alleviates Neck Pain

Neck pain can be treated by applying a Gua Sha massage on the back and the sides of the neck. The Gua Sha stones can reduce the pressure on the neck and help the muscles on that particular body part to relax. After massaging your neck, be sure to apply a thermal heating pad to further reduce the soreness.

Can Cure Migraines

Massaging the sides of your forehead using Gua Sha stones is helpful in curing or alleviating migraines, which are the constant headaches that you will often feel whenever you are stressed. If you feel too stressed during work or school, you can massage your forehead with Gua Sha stones to prevent and alleviate migraines.

Helps with Muscle Recovery after Workout

Sore muscles are quite common after a workout in the gym, outside, or at home, and to alleviate the pain you are suffering from, you can utilize Gua Sha stones to massage your sore muscles and reduce inflammation and soreness. If you have the time, you may also want to go to a local Gua Sha massage parlor to get a better massage for your muscles. But, if you want to perform the massage on your own, there are many stores online and in malls that sell Gua Sha facial tools Australia, so you wouldn’t really have a difficult time finding stones and other items for the said type of traditional Chinese medicine.

And, there you have it, a brief guide that we hope helped you understand a bit more about Gua Sha and its benefits to our body. Be sure to visit a local massage parlor that offers Gua Sha stone therapy for the body and the face so that you will have the best massage experience while also trying to learn how to perform Gua Sha yourself.