What is Gua Sha?
Gua Sha tools at The Healing Practice
- Gua Sha is a natural, alternative therapy that involves scraping your skin with a massage tool to improve your circulation. This ancient Chinese healing technique offers a unique approach to better health, addressing issues like chronic pain.
- Gua means ‘press or scrape’ and Sha means ‘red’ (the friction raised on the skin surface from scraping.) These tiny, flat red, purple spots are called petechiae and are the body’s response to stirring up congestion.
- This is not done on the face for obvious reasons but reserved for body complaints that require a more vigorous action. The sha appears as prickly red and blue spots and is often confused with bruising, which it isn’t. The sha fades within a few hours to a couple of days again depending on how much pressure was applied to the area and for how long.
- Cupping is another treatment that can leave marks on the body and can take a similar time to fade, depending on the congestion of the area worked on, albeit its approach is a static one.
- Read more about Gua Sha
What is a Gua Sha Facial?
Gua Sha Facial
A Gua Sha Facial is particularly helpful for lymphatic drainage in our face, because we don’t move the muscles in our face all that much. The intentional movements of a facial massage will help move the lymph through the system and result in a more toned and sculpted appearance.
Does Gua Sha build collagen?
Yes. The facial stimulation increases production of collagen. Tightens your skin, brightens complexion, releases tension and shapes facial muscles. This is done through the promotion of blood circulation and lymphatic movement.
What are the benefits of a Gua Sha Facial?
This ancient Chinese healing technique (pronounced gwa sha)has been around for a long time and is effective as a self-care ritual, or when seeing a therapist that specialises in this treatment.
Our Gua Sha Facial is especially effective at relieving muscular tension and breaking down fascia adhesion (albeit gently) — perfect for those with tight muscles, sluggish circulation, and “tech” necks from prolonged comoputer use (or looking at our phones!).
Gua Sha lines
We love Gua Sha for the following:
* clear stagnation
* depuff
* improve microcirculation
* tone and smooth skin
* destress
* balance energy
In addition, a head massage and stretches can be included that will stimulate the scalp and relieve tension areas at the occipital line (back edge of skull) and temporal lobes (above ears).
What is The Healing Practice Gua Sha Facial?
- We use Jojoba oil on the face as the lightest and closest oil to our own natural sebum. Easily absorbed and ideal for all skin types.
- We prefer to use stone (as more cooling and smooth as in Jade) on the face
- Light facial cupping is also done on face and neck to pluck and stimulate circulation and drain puffy areas
- Neck is our favourite area to release tension from
- Finished off with a warm-hot towel and a rose facial spray!
A Gua Sha facial is the perfect complement to our Lymphatic Drainage treatment and is finished off with Foot Reflexology to treat the whole body. Book here
We’ve added it as a new therapy, because we think the face is vital to treat well!
Our face is the first part of us that we present to ourselves and to others.
It is also available as an Add-on with other treatments but we think its best companion is Lymphatic Drainage.
See our other new treatments below:
Foot Reflexology
Book Lymphatic Drainage w/Gua Sha Facial & Foot Reflexology
Book 1 Hr Gua Sha Facial & Foot Reflexology
Does Gua Sha Leave Bruises?
And again, this more vigorous approach is not done on the face!
Gua Sha Research
Studies show supportive results for Gua Sha in various areas. Here are some of them: https://www.healthline.com/health/gua-sha#benefits
- Migraine headaches when over the counter medication is not helping
- Breast engorgement for new mothers establishing breastfeeding
- Chronic Neck pain
- Perimenopausal syndrome
Perimenopausal Symptoms include:
- insomnia
- irregular periods
- anxiety
- fatigue
- hot flashes
More Reasons to have a Gua Sha Facial
- Broken capillaries on the tip of nose or redness around the nose area indicate excessive stress and worries, or alcohol over-indulgence or both as an unfortunate ‘catch-22’ effect. The tip of the nose represents the Heart meridian and circulation system.
- Blackheads, blemishes or chapping indicate poor blood circulation.The side of the nose represents the bronchi, part of the Lung meridian which governs the skin and respiration and has a close relationship to the Heart meridian and circulation system.
- Dark circles under the eyes are an indicator of kidney weakness. Under the eyes is the Kidney meridian, which affects kidney function. Weak dysfunction can show up as exhaustion and fatigue, and may affect bladder function as well.
- Menstruation: women who experience irregular and/or heavy menstrual flow are likely to suffer from migraine headaches, as the meridian pathways of Liver and Gallbladder traverse the top and side of head. They are also more likely to have a discolouration on their eyelids which relate to the Liver and Gall Bladder meridian and can further affect the Spleen and Pancreas meridians.
Meridians (originating in Chinese Medicine), are the pathways of qi (chi) and blood flow through the body and also called more simply, energy pathways.
Insufficient qi makes a person vulnerable to disease and restoring the qi is the ultimate goal in restoring overall health and wellbeing to the individual.
Stagnation of qi can readily show in the face as fatigue, poor skin tone, discolouration under the eyes, sinus congestion, broken capillaries and other signs and symptoms of poor health.
Who should not use Gua Sha?
Best to wait a few days to a couple of weeks if you’ve had recent facial treatments (such as Botox or fillers). People who are taking blood thinners or have clotting disorders aren’t good candidates for Gua Sha.
Source, Resources and Related Links:
- The Fifteen Luo (Connecting) Points / Excerpts from the book: Acupuncture, Meridian Theory and Acupuncture Points
- Buddha Body / The Master Meridian Check
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Natural Remedies – Book written by C. Norman Shealy M.D., Ph.D.
- The Complete Guide to Natural Healing / Book by Tom Monte and the Editors of National Health Magazine• Watsu and the Meridians
- Simply Senz Natural Healing Blog
I hope this information will give you sufficient understanding of a Gua Sha treatment, the benefits you can expect to receive; and the confidence to make an appointment to support your health and wellbeing at our Clinic.
Contact us with any questions or concerns or call us 0438 216 351
The Healing Practice
Albert Street
Forest Lodge, Sydney NSW 2037