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Gua Sha
What is Gua Sha?
In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the six major therapeutic techniques are Bian (stone therapy), Zhen (acupuncture), Jiu (moxibustion), Yao (herbal medicine), Daoyin (qigong guidance), and Anqiao (massage). Bian therapy, namely Gua Sha with Bian stones, ranks first among these techniques and is known as "the mother of acupuncture and moxibustion, and the ancestor of Gua Sha point-pressing therapy".
The so-called "Gua" (scraping) refers to an external TCM therapy that uses a heat-clearing and toxin-removing water buffalo horn Gua Sha tool or a qi-nourishing and mind-calming Bian stone Gua Sha board, combined with a medium that activates blood circulation and dissipates blood stasis. Following the meridian pathways in TCM, selecting specific meridians and acupoints, practitioners scrape the body surface to extract metabolic waste and pathological products from the microcirculation, bringing them to the skin's surface.
The "Sha" refers to metabolic waste and stagnant blood separated from the microcirculation. It exists between subcutaneous and muscular tissues as "abnormal blood" containing toxins in the body.
Why Gua Sha?
"To get rich, build roads first." Similarly, to achieve health, longevity, and abundant energy, one must first "clear the roads" of the human body. Imagine a city with blocked roads: garbage cannot be transported out, piling up and releasing foul odors that pollute the environment; meanwhile, urgently needed supplies cannot enter, leaving citizens without food or provisions. As a result, the city is partially paralyzed—this is urban "sub-health."
If this were not a city but a human body, what would happen with blocked "roads"? Similarly, metabolic waste cannot be fully excreted, accumulating to form various lumps, nodules, or even tumors. Blocked pathways also prevent essential nutrients from reaching their destinations, leaving people listless and low on energy—physical sub-health. If one ignores meridian blockage and only supplements nutrients, the body may develop "internal heat" and become "unable to absorb nourishment despite supplementation"—a state of deficiency that resists tonification.
How to Assess Health Through Sha Manifestations?
| Check the vividness of the sha color | |
| Sha colors that are relatively dull usually indicate a cold pattern; While relatively vivid sha colors generally indicate a heat pattern. |
| Check Sha Density | |
| Sparse, scattered spots: minor issues, quick recovery. Dense, large patches: deep pathogenic invasion, long-term care. |
| Check Sha Color | |
| Sha Color:Normal pink. Issues:Seen in health-conscious people or those with minor problems. Usually "illness on the surface" Advice:Scrape 1-2 times a month for health care. |
| Sha Color: Deeper than pink, brighter red. Issues:Internal heat. Advice:Avoid late nights, drink more water, eat light. Scrape Bladder, Heart, Liver & Stomach meridians. Re-scrape till color fades, then use moxibustion. |
| Sha Color:Light and Dark Purple Issues: Light purple indicates stasis and qi-blood deficiency, poor circulation, or long-term stasis with sluggish qi-blood flow. Dark purple means qi-blood stasis but sufficient supply, faster recovery. Advice:Scrape 4 to 5 times a month, maintain long-term conditioning. |
| Sha Color: Obvious, large patches, close to skin tone. Issue: Severe qi-blood deficiency/depletion. Advice: Eat qi-blood-nourishing foods; scrape 4–5 times a month to tonify spleen-stomach. |
| Sha Color: Black lumps appear in many areas. Issue: Pathogenic factors deeply invade, reaching zang-fu organs. E.g., black lumps on Heart Meridian/Pericardium Meridian signal heart problems. Advice: Scrape 4–5 times a month, long-term. |
| Sha Color: No sha appears during scraping, but cyan bruises show on the scraped area the next day. Issue: Liver blood deficiency. |
What is the sequence of gua sha?
Head, neck, shoulders, back, waist, abdomen, and limbs.
From top to bottom, from the inside to the outside, from the proximal end to the distal end of the limbs, perform unidirectional scraping, and try to make the strokes as long as possible.
Attached is a diagram of back gua sha.
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