The term Gua Sha itself is defined in two parts: ‘gua’ for scraping with a specially designed tool (usually made of a precious stone with healing properties); and ‘sha’ for redness of skin that appears after the scraping.

Gua Sha began to take its modern shape by way of Traditional Chinese Medicine, with major medical records documenting its extensive use dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Gua Sha has been traditionally used by Chinese medical practitioners to treat issues related to chronic pain caused by inflammation, with the literal goal to ‘scrape away illness’.

Here at Torquay Chinese Medicine, we apply Gua Sha on the body in its more vigorous form to address conditions such as chronic pain and long standing body pain due to a history of physical trauma, and common colds and flu.

We also apply it in its milder form for facial gua sha, known to sculpt the facial muscles by encouraging blood and lymphatic circulation, while also relaxing any muscular tension being held in the numerous facial/neck/scalp muscles. The increasingly popular facial rollers are also a form of facial gua sha.