Gua sha

Last updated
Gua sha
Gua Sha Massage Aftermath.jpg

Gua sha, or kerokan (in Indonesia), is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practice in which a tool is used to scrape people's skin in order to produce light petechiae. Practitioners believe that gua sha releases unhealthy bodily matter from blood stasis within sore, tired, stiff, or injured muscle areas to stimulate new oxygenated blood flow to the areas, thus promoting healing and recovery.

Contents

Gua sha is sometimes referred to as "scraping", "spooning" or "coining" by English speakers. The treatment has also been known by the French name, tribo-effleurage . [1]

Gua sha is a pseudoscience, has no known health benefits and can have adverse effects, some of them potentially serious. [2]

Etymology

Gua sha, the literal translation being "to scrape petechia" which refers to the sand-like bruising after the treatment, spread from China to Vietnam, where it became very popular. It is known as cạo gió, which roughly means "to scrape wind", as in Vietnamese culture "catching a cold" or fever is often referred to as trúng gió, "to catch wind". The origin of this term is the Shang Han Lun , a c. 220 CE Chinese medical text on illness caused by cold. As in most Asian countries, China's medical sciences were a profound influence in Vietnam, especially between the 5th and 7th centuries CE. [3] Cạo gió is an extremely common remedy in Vietnam and for expatriate Vietnamese.

Technique

A person using a gua sha tool on their face. Gua sha demonstration.gif
A person using a gua sha tool on their face.
Gua sha as practiced in Bali, Indonesia Gua Sha.jpg
Gua sha as practiced in Bali, Indonesia

Gua sha involves repeated pressed strokes over lubricated skin with a smooth-edged, blunt instrument. Skin is typically lubricated with massage oil or balm, and commonly a ceramic Chinese soup spoon was used, or a blunt, well-worn coin, even honed animal bones, water buffalo horn, or jade, or even a simple metal cap with a blunt rounded edge is used.

In cases of fatigue from heavy manual labor work, a piece of ginger root soaked in rice wine is sometimes used to rub down the spine from top to bottom.

The smooth edge is placed against the oiled skin surface, pressed down firmly, and then moved down the muscles—hence the term tribo-effleurage (i.e., friction-stroking)—or along the pathway of the acupuncture meridians, along the surface of the skin, with each stroke being about 4–6 inches long.

Practitioners tend to follow the tradition they were taught to obtain sha: typically using either gua sha or fire cupping. The techniques are sometimes used together. [4] In China, both gua sha and fire cupping are widely available in institutions ranging from national and public hospitals to private massage shops. Due to local peoples' deep trust in Traditional Chinese medicine and the treatments' reasonable price, both are very popular.

Dangers and lack of efficacy

There is no clinical evidence supporting the efficacy of Gua sha. [2] In use, it nearly always damages the skin. [2] Negative side effects of gua sha range from minor ones including dermatitis, burns and blood in the urine to rare major effects including bleeding in the brain and severe injuries requiring skin grafts. [5]

The use of hospital standards of sterilization and personal protective equipment is important to prevent contamination of infectious pathogens. Although no cases of blood-borne pathogens have been reported, the risk of transmission of blood cells and fluids cannot be ruled out, as with all contact producers. Protective measurements against infectious agents that are recommended include the single use of disposable devices, sterilization of re-used equipment, and glove use. Lubricants should be poured out into cups and they are to be disposed of after each use. Devices that cannot be adequately sterilized such as horn and bone are not recommended. [6]

Cross-cultural confusion with physical abuse

A slightly different form of gua sha using the edges of coins rather than porcelain items is practiced as a folk medicine technique. Individuals practice this "coining", also known as cao gio (literally "scratching the wind"), amongst their own family members in many Asian countries, such as Vietnam or in Cambodia known as kaos khyal/kors kha-yal (កោសខ្យល់) literally meaning scratch the wind, and also in their respective emigrant communities abroad. Health care practitioners in hospitals in Orange County, California, routinely see evidence of coining among hospitalized Vietnamese patients. [7]

In 1980, it was found that many Vietnamese still distrusted U.S. medical practitioners in part due to fear of being accused of child abuse. [8] This practice has been misidentified as child abuse in case reports, despite the intention of the parents. [9] Physicians are required by law to report injuries from remedies such as coining to the appropriate agency (e.g., state child-protective service or state adult-protective service), regardless of intention. [10]

The 2001 movie The Gua Sha Treatment was made in Hong Kong and featured gua sha. In the film, an American child welfare agency interprets gua sha treatment as abuse and seeks to take a child away from its father. The movie concerns cultural conflict experienced by a Chinese-American immigrant family, and a theme of the film is that violence is difficult to define, and the definitions often relate to culture. [11] [12]

In 2021 and 2022, the practice went viral on TikTok. [13] [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acupuncture</span> Pseudoscientific needling treatment

Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientific knowledge, and it has been characterized as quackery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Traditional Chinese medicine</span>

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. A large share of its claims are pseudoscientific, with the majority of treatments having no robust evidence of effectiveness or logical mechanism of action.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massage</span> Manipulation of the body through stretching and pressure

Massage is the rubbing or kneading of the body's soft tissues. Massage techniques are commonly applied with hands, fingers, elbows, knees, forearms, feet, or a device. The purpose of massage is generally for the treatment of body stress or pain. In European countries, a person professionally trained to give massages is traditionally known as a masseur (male) or masseuse (female). In the United States, these individuals are often referred to as "massage therapists". In some provinces of Canada, they are called "registered massage therapists."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bloodletting</span> Therapy, now rarely used in medicine

Bloodletting is the withdrawal of blood from a patient to prevent or cure illness and disease. Bloodletting, whether by a physician or by leeches, was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and other bodily fluids were regarded as "humours" that had to remain in proper balance to maintain health. It is the most common medical practice performed by surgeons from antiquity until the late 19th century, a span of over 2,000 years. In Europe, the practice continued to be relatively common until the end of the 19th century. The practice has now been abandoned by modern-style medicine for all except a few very specific medical conditions. In the beginning of the 19th century, studies had begun to show the harmful effects of bloodletting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moxibustion</span> Traditional Chinese medical practice

Moxibustion is a traditional Chinese medicine therapy which consists of burning dried mugwort on particular points on the body. It plays an important role in the traditional medical systems of China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Mongolia. Suppliers usually age the mugwort and grind it up to a fluff; practitioners burn the fluff or process it further into a cigar-shaped stick. They can use it indirectly, with acupuncture needles, or burn it on the patient's skin.

<i>Effleurage</i> Type of massage stroke in Swedish massage

Effleurage, a French word meaning 'to skim' or 'to touch lightly on', is a series of massage strokes used in Swedish massage to warm up the muscle before deep tissue work using petrissage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruise</span> Type of localized bleeding in tissues outside blood vessels

A bruise, also known as a contusion, is a type of hematoma of tissue, the most common cause being capillaries damaged by trauma, causing localized bleeding that extravasates into the surrounding interstitial tissues. Most bruises occur close enough to the epidermis such that the bleeding causes a visible discoloration. The bruise then remains visible until the blood is either absorbed by tissues or cleared by immune system action. Bruises which do not blanch under pressure can involve capillaries at the level of skin, subcutaneous tissue, muscle, or bone.

Temperature play is a form of BDSM sensual play where objects and substances are used to stimulate the body's neuroreceptors for heat and cold for sensual effect.

<i>Petrissage</i> Deep pressure technique in massage

Petrissage is a massage technique that applies deep pressure to the underlying muscles. Kneading, wringing, skin rolling, and pick-up-and-squeeze are the petrissage movements. They are all performed with the padded palmar surface of the hand, the surface of the finger and also the thumbs.

<i>Tui na</i> Traditional Chinese massage therapy

Tui na is a form of alternative medicine similar to shiatsu. As a branch of traditional Chinese medicine, it is often used in conjunction with acupuncture, moxibustion, fire cupping, Chinese herbalism, tai chi or other Chinese internal martial arts, and qigong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cupping therapy</span> Pseudoscience whereby suction is applied to the skin

Cupping therapy is a form of pseudoscience in which a local suction is created on the skin with the application of heated cups. As alternative medicine it is practiced primarily in Asia but also in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. The practice of cupping has been characterized as quackery.

The Gua Sha Treatment is a Chinese movie directed by Zheng Xiaolong released in 2001 starring Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Zhu Xu, and Jiang Wenli. It is a story about cultural conflicts experienced by a Chinese family in the United States. Misunderstanding caused by traditional Chinese medicine threatens to separate a family - will this family overcome conflict between eastern and Western cultures?

Infection prevention and control is the discipline concerned with preventing healthcare-associated infections; a practical rather than academic sub-discipline of epidemiology. In Northern Europe, infection prevention and control is expanded from healthcare into a component in public health, known as "infection protection". It is an essential part of the infrastructure of health care. Infection control and hospital epidemiology are akin to public health practice, practiced within the confines of a particular health-care delivery system rather than directed at society as a whole.

Blood stasis (BS) is a concept in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), described as a slowing or pooling of the blood due to a disruption of heart qi. Blood stasis is also described by practitioners of TCM in terms of yin deficiency, qi deficiency and qi stagnation. For non-practitioners of TCM it is sometimes explained in terms of hematological disorders such as hemorrhage, congestion, thrombosis or local ischemia, and in terms of tissue changes. TCM practitioners believe it is an important underlying pathology of many disease processes despite the fact that objective, consistent methods for measuring the presence of blood stasis syndrome are not readily available. Blood stasis is associated with justifications for acupuncture and herbal treatments.

Traditional Thai medicine is a system of methods and practices, such as herbal medicine, bodywork practices, and spiritual healing that is indigenous to the region currently known as Thailand. While not all Buddhist medicine is Thai, Thai medicine is considered Buddhist medicine.

Cat massage is a practice used by veterinarians and at home by pet owners to apply massage therapy techniques to domestic cats, primarily for relieving pain and discomfort, as well as a means of strengthening the cat–human bond through intimate interaction.

Vietnamese units of measurement are the largely decimal units of measurement traditionally used in Vietnam until metrication. The base unit of length is the thước or xích. Some of the traditional unit names have been repurposed for metric units, such as thước for the metre, while other traditional names remain in translations of imperial units, such as dặm Anh for the mile.

Xu Ting, known as Kitty Xu Ting, was a Chinese actress and blogger who died of cancer in 2016. Previously known for her appearances in Dad Home and Lost in Macau, she was a popular blogger on the microblogging website Sina Weibo with 300,000 followers. Her death received widespread press attention for her refusal to use modern medical treatments such as chemotherapy, in favor of Chinese traditional remedies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cash coins in traditional Chinese medicine</span>

The usage of cash coins in the pseudoscientific practice of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are primarily used in two main medical practices, notably coin rubbing and the preparation of "coin teas". Coin rubbing is practiced by ethnic Han Chinese and others in many parts of Southeast Asia and is primarily used as a treatment for "hot" diseases and is related to the more familiar pseudoscientific practices of cupping therapy and acupuncture.

References

  1. Huard & Wong (1977), p.126. Also cited is a French romanization for the same set of two Chinese characters: koua sha.
  2. 1 2 3 Ernst, E (2019). Alternative Medicine  A Critical Assessment of 150 Modalities. Springer. pp. 170–171. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-12601-8. ISBN   978-3-030-12600-1. S2CID   34148480.
  3. Needham, J., Celestial Lancets, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University.
  4. One of the first to introduce the technique of gua sha to non-Chinese students in the United States was James Tin Yau So (1911 - ).
  5. Vashi NA, Patzelt N, Wirya S, Maymone MB, Zancanaro P, Kundu RV (2018). "Dermatoses caused by cultural practices: Therapeutic cultural practices". J Am Acad Dermatol (Review). 79 (1): 1–16. doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2017.06.159. PMID   29908818. S2CID   49268995.
  6. Nielsen, Arya, Ben Kligler, and Brian S. Koll. "Safety Protocols for Gua Sha (press-stroking) and Baguan (cupping)." Complementary Therapies in Medicine 20.5 (2012): 340-44.
  7. "Coining: What You Need to Know" (PDF). Cchp.ucsf.edu. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  8. "Addressing a lack of culturally sensitive healthcare for Cambodian and Vietnamese communities in O.C." Los Angeles Times . 24 September 2020.
  9. "FAQ - Child Abuse - Stanford University School of Medicine". Childabuse.stanford.edu.
  10. Fadem, Barbara (2009). Behavioral Science - Board Review Series. Baltimore, MD: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. p. 206. ISBN   978-0-7817-8257-9.
  11. "EFL Movie Study Guide for: The Gua Sha Treatment". Krigline.com. Krigline. Archived from the original on 17 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  12. "The Treatment: User Reviews". IMDB.com. IMDB. Archived from the original on 17 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  13. "What's gua sha? Chinese medicine experts explain TikTok's viral skin care technique". ABC News. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  14. Seo, Hannah (2022-09-12). "Dry Brushing, Body Scraping, Gua Sha: Lymphatic Health Is All the Rage". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-09-23.