What Is Gua Sha Used For?

Gua Sha is an ancient massage technique which originated from China and by some accounts is over 2,000 years old. It has been adapted by other countries throughout the East and is acommon therapy in both conventional and traditional Chinese medicine today.

However, it is seldom used in the West as little is known about it, and it differs greatly from western standards.

History

Gua Sha literally means to “scrape away fever”. In Vietnam it is known as “Cow Yaw”, in Laos as “Khoud Lam”, in Cambodia as “Kos Khyol”, in Indonesia as “Kerik”,and in Japan,“Kerokan”.

It is described in some of the oldest knownChinese medical texts, including the Shang Han Lun from the early third century.

It is so prevalentthroughout Asia today, that many villages have their own Gua Sha therapist, and family members even practice on each other.

It has been passed on from generation to generation, and can now even be found in North American and European spas and Oriental medical centers.

Technique

Anciently, tools such as animal horns or bones were used to scrape the skin. Today, a spoon is the preferred tool, although the smooth edge of a bottle cap or large coin work equally as well.

The Gua Sha tool is used to scrape the skin of the affected areas, starting towards the spine and working its way out towards the limbs. The motions typically follow the meridians, or energy channels in the body. Lotion or massage oil is generally used to protect the skin.

The scraping causes petechial or minor hemorrhaging just beneath the surface of the skin. This is a normal response to releasing blood stagnation. In severe cases, ecchymosis, or slight bruising and redness may last for two to three days following treatment.

Because Gua Sha is part of Traditional Chinese Medicine, or TCM, it may also be used in conjunction with other TCM therapies such as acupuncture, cupping, moxibustion and/or herbal remedies.

Benefits

Acupuncturist Arya Nielsen, who popularized Gua Sha in America, explains that throughout the body is fascia, or connective tissue connecting all the structures of the body. She states, “when blood is stuck in the surface fascia, fabric and function are compromised. There is pain, and a slowing of normal processes, not only there at the surface, but also deeper in the organs… Gua Sha moves this stuck blood, immediately relieves pain and restores the normal processes of circulation”.

Although a casual observer may assume at first glance that Gua Sha is painful or causing damage to the skin, those who have undergone the treatment attest to its amazing benefits. Following a session, most report immediate relief of pain, tenderness and stiffness.

Why Gua Sha?

Gua Sha is different from other forms of massage, which focus mainly on relieving tension in the muscles. The purpose of Gua Sha is to stimulate circulation and move “stagnant” blood. Relaxation of the muscles is a natural response to this movement.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, blood stagnation can cause a wide range of health-related issues, including pain, stiffness and inflammation. Allergies, infertility, arthritis and tendinitis are all examples of disorders which are related to stagnant blood.

Considerations

There are a few tests which can help you decide if Gua Sha is right for you:

1. If you have acute or chronic pain,

2. If you have severe tenderness or knots in the muscles,

3. If pressing on the skin of the affected area causes blanching (where the skin turns white and slowly fades back to a normal color).

In TCM, Gua Sha may be prescribed for any number of disorders, including: asthma, arthritis, constipation, high blood pressure, headaches, menstrual pain, obesity, severe or chronic back pain, sciatica, stretch marks and varicose veins, to name a few.

Remember that natural therapies such as Gua Sha are meant to complement, not replace medical care. Consult your health care provider if considering Gua Sha for chronic or acute pain.

The Best Herbal Supplements for Anxiety

When it comes to herbal supplements for anxiety, you will always want to go with supplements that have been proven to improve your blood circulation and ease the stress on your heart. Anything that calms you down and makes you feel relaxed can be viewed as a supplement for anxiety because your stress levels are what you want to have lowered as a result of the new substance.

Some of the best things to lower your anxiety levels can actually be found in the foods everyone usually eats on a daily basis.

Lowering your levels of anxiety is very closely related to your hearth health because it is much easier to stay relaxed when you have a healthy heart.

When your heart is able to pump out blood at a normal rate, it makes it easier to stay very calm in stressful situations. When you are drenched in stress after a long day of work, you need to be able to relax and keep your heart’s beats per minutes down to a safe level.

Herbal supplements for anxiety are a great choice when you are looking for ways to help your stress levels because they will be able to make it easier for blood to flow throughout your body.

When your blood can easily move around, it makes it much easier to not get overly stressed and have some sort of panic attack every now and then. If you want to live a stress-free life, then you are going to need to improve your heart health and stay away from situations that can become far too stressful.

Different types of herbal supplements for anxiety

There are many different types of herbal supplements for anxiety available on the market today, but you should really think about what you are buying before you make your purchase. You may actually be better off looking at which supplements work the best for anxiety and getting the foods that contain the main ingredients in those supplements instead.

For example, garlic is said to do wonders for blood circulation and blood pressure, so there is no reason to go out and get a supplement for something you could just add to your meals.

The supplements tend to contain a lot more of the active ingredients found in the beneficial foods, but sometimes you aren’t getting all of the benefits of the food when you take it in supplement form. On top of that, the supplements sometimes contain far too much of the nutrients found in the food, and this can end up actually causing problems for your body. You should just change your diet if you really want to get relief from stress because that is the way that has been proven to work for thousands of years.

Don’t forget to exercise

Herbal supplements for anxiety and diet changes are great, but you should also remember to get thirty minutes of exercise as often as you can. Without the proper exercise, all of your stress is just going to keep building up in your body.

The Best Natural Healing Remedies are Free

Anyone who is looking for some natural healing remedies for any kind of sickness or disease they may have only needs to look at their lifestyle to find the source of their problems. When you look at all of the people in the world who exercise on a daily basis and only eat foods that are healthy and highly nutritional, you will notice that they tend to have a lower amount of downtime due to sickness than everybody else.

This is because exercise and healthy eating really does lead to better results when it comes to your health, and more people around the world can live happier lives as soon as they start realizing this fact.

Proper diet and exercise is something that is thrown in everyone’s face as a young child, but it seems that the message still does not get across to the majority of the people out there.

Plenty of people never exercise and decide to eat whatever they want, and this kind of attitude will almost always lead to some kind of health problems later in life.

Not exercising and eating fatty foods feels great in the short term, but you will definitely be searching for some natural healing remedies after a long period of unhealthy choices.

In addition to exercise and proper eating habits, there are many other alternative medicines available for people who wish to make some big changes in their lives. Supplements are very popular among people who want to stay healthy and active, so those are another option when you are looking for something to improve your life. There are also various relaxation techniquesyou can use on a regular basis to relive your stress, such as meditation or breathing exercises.

What are your natural healing remedies?

The best part about natural healing remedies is that they will be different for every single person around the world. Health problems are usually caused by a lack of exercise or a deficiency of some kind of important vitamin or nutrient, so each individual will need to do something different to get healthy again. Once you’ve filled a certain gap in your life when it comes to having a healthy lifestyle, you will be able to walk around all day feeling much better about yourself.

Happiness is one of the best parts of using natural healing remedies because you are bound to become a happier person once you become healthier. Plenty of people out there are suffering from depression because they aren’t paying attention to their health or keep procrastinating on things they need to take care of, so alternative therapies are a great way to solve some of your life problems and get back on the right track. Anyone who is having some troubles in their life should not get too depressed because there is always a way out of any tough situation.

Make the changes today

The only way to make sure you are going to make the right changes in your life is to make sure that you do it today. Start searching for some natural healing remedies as soon as you can.