Gua Sha is guided by the theory of meridians and acupoints of traditional Chinese medicine, through special scraping instruments and corresponding techniques, dipping a certain medium, scraping and rubbing repeatedly on the body surface, so as to make the skin appear red military shape, or dark red bleeding spots and other “scrapping” changes, so as to achieve the effect of promoting blood circulation. Because of its simplicity, convenience, cheapness, and efficiency, it is widely used in the clinic and is suitable for medical and family health care.
It can also be used with acupuncture, cupping, pricking and bloodletting, and other therapies to strengthen the effect of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, expelling evil and detoxification.
The first written records of gua sha date back 700 years, to the era of the Ming Dynasty, though, the practice is thought to be much older than that, perhaps having been discovered in prehistoric times as the simple reflex of rubbing a painful area to make the pain go away.
