Gua Sha , literally "to scrape away fever" in
ChineseChinese or the Sinitic language is a language family consisting of languages mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
(more loosely, "to scrape away disease by allowing the disease to escape as sandy-looking objects through the skin"), is an ancient medical treatment.
Sometimes referred to as "spooning" by English speakers, it has also been given the descriptive French name, "tribo-
effleurageEffleurage, a French word meaning "to skim" or "to touch lightly on", is a series of massage strokes used in Swedish massage to warm up the muscle before deep tissue work using petrissage....
".
The
VietnameseVietnamese , formerly known under French colonization as Annamese , is the national and official language of Vietnam...
term for this practice is
cạo gió (pronounced "cow yaw"), meaning roughly to "scrape wind", as in Vietnamese culture "catching a cold" or fever is often referred to as
trúng gió, "to catch wind".
Gua Sha , literally "to scrape away fever" in
ChineseChinese or the Sinitic language is a language family consisting of languages mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
(more loosely, "to scrape away disease by allowing the disease to escape as sandy-looking objects through the skin"), is an ancient medical treatment.
Sometimes referred to as "spooning" by English speakers, it has also been given the descriptive French name, "tribo-
effleurageEffleurage, a French word meaning "to skim" or "to touch lightly on", is a series of massage strokes used in Swedish massage to warm up the muscle before deep tissue work using petrissage....
".
The
VietnameseVietnamese , formerly known under French colonization as Annamese , is the national and official language of Vietnam...
term for this practice is
cạo gió (pronounced "cow yaw"), meaning roughly to "scrape wind", as in Vietnamese culture "catching a cold" or fever is often referred to as
trúng gió, "to catch wind". The origin of this term is the
Shang Han LunShang Han Lun , or Shang Han Za Bin Lun, English translation 'On Cold Damage' or 'Treatise on Cold Injury', is a medical treatise by Zhang Zhongjing that was published sometime before 220 A.D...
, a ~220 CE Chinese Medical text on cold induced disease - like most Asian countries China's medical sciences were a profound influence in Vietnam, especially between the 5th and 7th Centuries CE. Cạo gió is an extremely common remedy in Vietnam and for overseas Vietnamese.
It is also used in Indonesia. It is a traditional Javanese technique, known as
kerikan (lit., "scraping technique") or
kerokanKerokan is a traditional Indonesian folk cure, wherein a coin or ladle is drawn across the back. This action supposedly helps to release "wind" from the body by increasing blood flow near the skin's surface...
, and it is very widely used, as a form of "folk" medicine, upon members of individual households.
"Folk" technique
In describing the Gua Sha techniques as a form of "folk" medicine, the term "folk" is not being used in any
pejorativePejoratives are terms which have a negative connotation. Sometimes a term may begin as a pejorative word and eventually be adopted in a non-pejorative sense...
sense. It is used to emphasize:
- the extremely widespread domestic use of the technique (thus, used by the "folk") as a method of first-contact intervention,
- that complex medical diagnosis is not required (and, thus, any decision to use or not use Gua Sha can be reliably made by the "folk"), and
- the overall safety of the technique (meaning that it is safe for the "folk" to use).
Notwithstanding, the Gua Sha technique is just as important a part of the legitimate practice of the specialist practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine as is the use of
fire cuppingFire cupping or simply cupping is a form of traditional medicine found in many cultures world-wide. It involves placing cups containing reduced air pressure on the skin...
; and it is a highly reputable technique that is applied just as much by these highly trained experts as it is applied by the "folk" users.
As with many of the "folk" methods that are used domestically as a form of first intervention, the use of Gua Sha often precludes any need for any more complex medical treatment; and, because its use means that further medical treatment is unnecessary, the technique, although extremely widespread, is often hidden from view, and its role as a very significant and very important participant in the overall health care of a community may not be immediately apparent.
Therefore, in the case of Gua Sha, the term "folk" medicine should not be thought of as separate from the practice of more complex Traditional Chinese Medicine, but far more as an immediate form of domestic "first-aid" intervention that serves to prevent any need for further medical intervention by a medical professional.
Technique
Gua Sha involves repeated pressured strokes over lubricated skin with a smooth edge. Commonly a
ceramicA ceramic is an inorganic, non-metallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
Chinese soup spoon was used, or a well worn coin, even honed animal bones, water buffalo horn, or jade. A simple metal cap with a rounded edge is commonly used.
In cases of fatigue from heavy work a piece of ginger root soaked in rice wine is sometimes used to rub down the spine from head to tail.
The smooth edge is placed against the pre-oiled skin surface, pressed down firmly, and then moved down the muscles -- hence the term "tribo-
effleurageEffleurage, a French word meaning "to skim" or "to touch lightly on", is a series of massage strokes used in Swedish massage to warm up the muscle before deep tissue work using petrissage....
" (i.e., friction-stroking) -- or along the pathway of the
acupunctureAcupuncture is the procedure of inserting and manipulating fine filiform needles into specific points on the body to relieve pain or for therapeutic purposes. The word acupuncture comes from the Latin acus, "needle", and pungere, "to prick". In Standard Mandarin, 針砭...
meridianThe meridian is a concept central to traditional Chinese medical techniques such as acupuncture, and to martial arts such as tai chi and qigong. According to these practices, there are channels along which the energy or qi of the psychophysical system is considered to flow...
s, along the surface of the skin, with each stroke being about 4-6 inches long.
This causes extravasation of blood from the peripheral capillaries (petechiae) and may result in sub-cutaneous blemishing (
ecchymosisAn ecchymosis is the medical term for a subcutaneous hematoma larger than 1cm, commonly called a bruise. The red blood cells are phagocytosed and degraded by macrophages, The blue-red color produced is from the enzymatic conversion of hemoglobin into billirubin, which is more blue-green...
), which usually takes 2-4 days to fade. Sha rash does not represent capillary rupture as in bruising, as is evidenced by the immediate fading of petechiae to echymosis, and the rapid resolution of sha as compared to bruising. The color of sha varies according to the severity of the patient's blood stasis -- which may correlate with the nature, severity and type of their disorder --appearing from a dark blue-black to a light pink, but is most often a shade of red. Although the marks on the skin look painful, they are not. Patients typically feel immediate sense of relief and change.
Practitioners tend to follow the tradition they were taught to obtain sha: typically using either gua sha or
fire cuppingFire cupping or simply cupping is a form of traditional medicine found in many cultures world-wide. It involves placing cups containing reduced air pressure on the skin...
. The techniques are not used together.
Indications
In classical Chinese practice, the Gua Sha technique is most commonly used to:
- Reduce fever (the technique was used to treat cholera).
- Treat fatigue caused by exposure to heat (often used to treat heat-stroke) or cold.
- Cough and dyspnea: bronchitis, asthma, emphysema.
- Treat muscle and tendon injuries.
- Push sluggish circulation, fibromyalgia.
- Treat headache.
- Treat sunstrokes / heat syncope and nausea.
- Treat stiffness, pain, immobility.
- Treat digestive disorders.
- Treat urinary, gynecological disorders.
- To assist with reactions to food poisoning.
There is an allied technique,
Ba Sha , or 'tsien sha', which has a similar application to Gua Sha. It is performed by gripping the skin, lifting and then flicking between the fingers until petechiae appear. It is used more often on the tendons, at the center of the brow, or than over specific acupuncture points.
Cross-cultural confusion with physical abuse
A slightly different form of Gua Sha, using the edges of coins, rather than porcelain, is practiced as a "folk medicine" technique, by individuals amongst their own family members, in many Asian cultures such as Vietnam (where the coin scraping is known as "
cạo gió", scraping for wind), in Cambodia, and in their immigrant communities abroad.
Cạo gió was introduced to the USA in 1975, when large numbers of Vietnamese were airlifted from South Vietnam near the end of the military conflict between North and South. Well-meaning practitioners of western medicine are sometimes shocked at the sight of these marks and fear that a child with the marks has been abused. The practice was observed by military physicians who publicized the harmless nature of this practice.
In 1980, it was found that many Vietnamese still distrusted US medical practitioners in part due to fear of being falsely accused of child abuse.
For professionals in this position, it is helpful to be familiar with the appearance of
Gua Sha marks and to understand its traditional therapeutic value, and to be able to make the distinction between
gua sha marks and signs of abuse.
Gua Sha is not known to be harmful. The technique called
cuppingCupping can refer to:* Coffee cupping* Fire cupping, and other alternative health cupping methods* "Cupping", a form of unusual tire wear due to bad wheel alignment...
also leaves distinctive, petechial marks on the skin, but is also harmless.
In 2001, a movie called "Gua Sha" (see
The Treatment) was made addressing this practice and the cultural misunderstandings it causes. The movie stars
Tony Leung Ka-FaiTony Leung Ka-Fai is a Hong Kong movie actor .Because he is often confused with fellow actor Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Tony Leung Ka-Fai is known as "Big Tony", while Tony Leung Chiu-Wai is known as "Little Tony", nicknames which correspond to the actors' respective physical statures.-Career:Tony has...
.
Artwork portraying Gua Sha
The 2000 movie
Beijing Herbs was made in
Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
showing Gua Sha among other things. The movie starred
Tony Leung Ka-FaiTony Leung Ka-Fai is a Hong Kong movie actor .Because he is often confused with fellow actor Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Tony Leung Ka-Fai is known as "Big Tony", while Tony Leung Chiu-Wai is known as "Little Tony", nicknames which correspond to the actors' respective physical statures.-Career:Tony has...
,
Jiang WenliJiang Wenli is a famous Chinese actress. She is a native of Tianjin, and graduated from Beijing Film Academy in 1992. She married director Gu Changwei in 1993.-External links:* at the Chinese Movie Database...
,
Zhu XuZhu Xu is a Chinese actor. He is well known for his roles in Zhang Yang's Shower and Wu Tianming's The King of Masks, the latter film helping him garner a Best Actor prize at the Tokyo International Film Festival.- Filmography :...
.
See also
- Acupuncture
Acupuncture is the procedure of inserting and manipulating fine filiform needles into specific points on the body to relieve pain or for therapeutic purposes. The word acupuncture comes from the Latin acus, "needle", and pungere, "to prick". In Standard Mandarin, 針砭...
- Ecchymosis
An ecchymosis is the medical term for a subcutaneous hematoma larger than 1cm, commonly called a bruise. The red blood cells are phagocytosed and degraded by macrophages, The blue-red color produced is from the enzymatic conversion of hemoglobin into billirubin, which is more blue-green...
- Fire cupping
Fire cupping or simply cupping is a form of traditional medicine found in many cultures world-wide. It involves placing cups containing reduced air pressure on the skin...
- Folk medicine
Folk medicine refers to healing practices and ideas of body physiology and health preservation widely known to much of the population in a culture, transmitted informally as general knowledge, and practiced or applied by anyone in the culture . All cultures and societies have knowledge best...
- Meridian (Chinese medicine)
The meridian is a concept central to traditional Chinese medical techniques such as acupuncture, and to martial arts such as tai chi and qigong. According to these practices, there are channels along which the energy or qi of the psychophysical system is considered to flow...
- Moxibustion
Moxibustion is a traditional Chinese medicine therapy using moxa, or mugwort herb. It plays an important role in the traditional medical systems of China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Tibet, and Mongolia. Suppliers usually age the mugwort and grind it up to a fluff; practitioners burn the fluff or...
- Petechiae
- Qi
In traditional Chinese culture, qi is an active principle forming part of any living thing....
- Traditional Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine, also known as TCM , includes a range of traditional medical practices originating in China. Although well accepted in the mainstream of medical care throughout East Asia, it is considered an alternative medical system in much of the western world.TCM practices include...
- Tui na
Tui na , is a form of Chinese manipulative therapy often used in conjunction with acupuncture, moxibustion, fire cupping, Chinese herbalism, tai chi, and qigong....