Gua sha is a natural, alternative therapy that involves using a smooth-edged instrument (known as a gua massage tool) to improve your circulation. This ancient Chinese healing technique offers a unique approach to better health, addressing issues like chronic pain. Practitioners believe that gua sha releases unhealthy bodily matter from blood stasis within sore, tired, stiff or injured muscle areas to stimulate new oxygenated blood flow to the areas, thus promoting metabolic cell repair, regeneration, healing, and recovery. Gua sha is sometimes referred to as “scraping,” “spooning,” or “coining.”

The practitioner applies massage oil to your skin and then uses to tool to scrape the skin with short or long strokes to stimulate micro-circulation of the soft tissue, which increases blood flow. This action causes light bruising, which often appears as purple or red spots known as petechiae or sha.