Have You Ever Tried (Or Heard of) Gua Sha? [UPDATED]
Last night I emailed Alexandra a picture of my bare back with the subject line “TMI.” Her response? ” OMG!! Are you gonna blog it?” I wasn’t planning on it, but… I guess so? Anything for you guys.
Backstory: The other night I went to see my acupuncturist here in New York. As I mentioned, I’m a big fan of the needles, and what I love most about my guy is that he’s an all-around healer—a “body, mind, spirit” type (without being new-agey or touchy-feely, I swear), who possesses an uncanny ability to know exactly what I need at any given time. Sometimes I need some massage, sometimes I need weird-smelling herbs, sometimes I need needles, and…
Maybe sometimes I need him to scrape my back with what looks like a Chinese soup spoon until my back turns bright red.
When I emailed him to set up my appointment, I mentioned that my vacation at Rancho La Puerta left me feeling pretty amazing, but that I also felt like there was a monkey on my back. I don’t really know what I was talking about, but that’s cool, because he did. And apparently it meant we would be trying something called gua sha. He’d be using a spoon to literally scrape the fascia on my back. It would free up trapped energy, make me feel lighter, get rid of anything that isn’t serving me, release my tight shoulder muscles, and bruise the living daylights out of me.
“The bruises will be gone in three days,” he promised. “And it won’t hurt.” [UPDATE: The bruises are not gone but they're close to gone. They've faded a lot. Also, bruise isn't the right word, because it's very surfacy and there is no pain.]
I was GIDDY.
The whole process took about 20 minutes. He used lotion to soften the pressure and then made his way over my shoulders with the spoon. Some parts felt a little tender, but I felt no pain. When it was all over he insisted I check it out in the mirror after he left the room.
I yelped when I saw my back in the mirror, but it also struck me as strangely beautiful.
The red and purple marks were so clean, and while I couldn’t read the patterns myself, I knew they were telling me something good. I felt like I could see inside my own body.
I’m sure you’re wondering, beyond my own weird story, what gua sha actually is. According to Wikipedia:
“Gua sha (Chinese: 刮痧; pinyin: guā shā), literally ‘to scrape away fever’ in Chinese (more loosely, ‘to scrape away disease by allowing the disease to escape as sandy-looking objects through the skin’), is an ancient medical treatment.”
I did some reading and learned that it’s commonly used in some populations—Chinese, Thai, Greek, and others—especially when people are coming down with something. The idea is that blood stagnates and pathogens get trapped, and if you release them by scraping, it speeds up the whole process and prevents the illness from lingering in the body (or something like that).
It’s also been studied, and has produced some good results in random controlled trials for chronic back pain, migraine-medication withdrawal symptoms, headache and circulation problems. (There is no study for its effectiveness removing monkeys from backs, however. Not yet, anyway.)
It can also be used diagnostically. Apparently we all pattern differently. I did some google image searches (be careful with that, seriously, if you’re squeamish) and saw that every back pictured was vastly different, and most looked way more intense than mine, to be honest. On my own back, some areas got really dark and other spots were more bright red. Not surprisingly, around the acupuncture points that we’ve been working on, the color was much deeper than it was elsewhere.
My acupuncturist said that once we were done, it might feel like I’d peeled off a hot shirt, and that’s just how I’d put it: Like I’d peeled off a hot, heavy shirt that I’ve been wearing for far, far too long.
Now who’s going to try it?
Image of torture device spoon via
Oooooooh, I want to try it!
this sounds exactly like what I need. I like the needles too but this sounds fun!
Who’s your guy in New York? Mind sharing him ?
Me! I wonder if there’s someone who does this in Charlotte? I have a lovely acupuncturist as well and you’ve just reminded me it’s been far too long since I’ve made an appointment…
Yikes. I had a bad experience with something called “cupping” and this is bringing up a similar feeling for me. I guess I’ll want to know if the bruising is actually gone in 3 days before I’d ever consider it. The cupping left me painfully bruised for about 6 weeks!
I just booked with my Chinese Med doc (who got her western medicine license reinstated and is back in town. WOHOO!) and I’m gonna see if she does it!!! :P THanks!
I don’t mean to be contrary, but it doesn’t sound much different from self-flagellation or run of the mill masochism. The body will send endorphins to the site of the body that has been “irritated”.
If it makes you feel better, by all means, but it’s not necessarily something mystical.
Fascinating stuff!! This is the first time I’ve heard about Gua Sha, but I am Korean and am familiar with something similar called “Bu hang,” which is a “cupping therapy.” It starts by attaching cupping glass to the skin and allow the air pressure inside the cup to remove congealed blood. It purifies your body by sending out waste materials through the blood! I haven’t personally done it myself, but I’ve seen my parents and grandparents do them and when the “bad” blood comes out, it has a strangely dark color, which is the waste material coming out through the blood. The painful-looking end result of Gua Sha looks very similar to the effect of Bu Hang.. it leaves your back with blue, purple, circular bruises! LOL :)
My Vietnamese grandmother would do this for me whenever I had the stomach flu. It totally works!!! I would always feel better instantly. She would use Chinese white flower oil and would scrape with what looked like a very dull pizza cutter.
my mom did this for my dad when i was growing up! it used to scare me to death, but now i think it’s really cool.
Sounds similar to something called the Graston Technique that my chiropractor does. She has this metal tool that she scrapes along my shoulder to break up scar tissue and help with chronic pain. It leaves me with lots of little red marks but it seems to help alot!
These sound wonderful, between my husbands diabetes and my chronic pain issues I would love to incorporate this into our daily massages.
Seriously, you girls could find a way of having a “NMDL’s list” somewhere in this lovely blog… this way, every time you blog about something we may want to experiment with, we would just click on it and immediately be led to a reccomended provider in our area:).. Thanks for sharing though, it is new for me but I’d give it a try
Wow.. I can’t believe I have not experienced ‘Gua Sha’ in a while. Where I grew up in Malaysia, there was a Chinese medicine man ( we called him Sin-Seh- Chinese for medicine man), he has his practice next to my Family’s GP practice. He had lots and lots old Chinese remedies in his cupboards and amazing treatment lists, my favorite one was ‘Gua Sha’ treatment. He would use warm Porcelain Chinese spoons and trace Chinese symbols all over the area where you had discomfort or pain. I was told that it was blocked Chi and he would work on specific meridians using the traditional method.
He was’t very gentle and it hurt a lot lol!!! 3 day later, I did feel like I lost 5 kg’s and to quote you- ‘THE MONKEY WAS OFF MY BACK). :) Definite must try… glad you did ..
@Caralien HA. Totally not a masochist but I was amused by your comment.
The rest of you: Happy to say I still feel way better. Bruises almost gone. Shoulders feel awesome!
Can someone recommend some good acupuncturist in NYC?
You must share- sounds amazing!
Email me. I dont want to post for privacy sake but happy to share and refer refer.
My Vietnamese MIL did it with a (clean) quarter and some vile-smelling mentholated oil. She believed that the severity of the marks on your back was directly proportional to how sick you were, and that it would cure anything. I had it done for colds, headaches, bronchitis, strep…she used it like my mom uses chicken soup. And, against all science and reason, it seemed to work!
Now that’s one I haven’t heard of. Makes sense though. I’d try it…
hey siobhan, how can i email you?
i’ve been looking for an acupuncturist in the city but haven’t found anyone i like so far. also does your doc take insurance? i feel like most dont… :(
Hey DJ — email through the contact email on the site. xo
I had this done two days ago at my physical therapist’s office. We’ve been doing strengthening, stretching, rock tape……my issue is chronic upper back/shoulder pain due to stress and computer work. She asked me if I’d “ever heard of spooning?” and I said no. She brought out her white porcelain chinese soup spoon and after working on my neck for a bit with her hands, she began to Gua Sha me. I had no idea it was going to be that painful, and frankly, I think every muscle in my back/neck/shoulders guarded up against the pain, rather than relaxing. Perhaps I should have said something, but I am desperate for some relief that works, so I let it go. But make no mistake, it HURTS to have this done.
So do I feel better because of it? No, not enough to endure it again. If I felt anything, it was the utter relief and endorphin rush of having it stop.