What is Gua Sha?

Gua sha is a therapy which involves scraping your skin with a tool to improve your circulation. This ancient Chinese healing technique is great for addressing issues like chronic pain.

The goal is to break the adhesions formed in and around the muscles to bring inflammation to the area. The inflammation brought to the area will create a healing process that will not only heal the new micro-traumas caused by this technique; but will heal the original damaged tissue that caused the adhesions to form initially. The technique focuses on mobility and function of the body and removing the restrictions preventing the body from working optimally. It’s often used to treat ailments that cause chronic pain, such as arthritis and fibromyalgia, as well as those that trigger muscle and joint pain (including repetitive strain issues like wrist pain).  Lotion is applied to your skin, and then your skin is scraped with short or long strokes to stimulate microcirculation of the soft tissue, which increases blood flow. A smooth-edged instrument known as a gua massage tool is used for the treatment.

Gua Sha is offered by our Acupuncturist, Annette Lambert and will be offered later in the month by our Athletic Therapist, Kristin Hodgen. You may book online with any of them here: https://anatomica.janeapp.com/