Mckay Healing Arts is always on the cutting edge of therapy that involves the whole body. We strive to support your whole system and are continuing to use immune system support therapies for our patients.
One of the therapies practiced for the immune system and inflammation is Gua sha.
Gua sha is an important hands-on medical treatment that has been used throughout Asia for centuries. Gua means ‘to rub’ or ‘press stroke. Sha is a term that describes the blood congestion in surface tissue in areas where the patient may experience stiffness and pain; sha is also the term for the little red dots that are raised from applying Gua sha (Nielsen 2012). When Gua press-stroking is applied in repeated even strokes, Sha appears as small red dots called ‘petechiae’ and the pain immediately shifts. In minutes the small red dots fade into blended reddishness. The Sha disappears totally in two to three days after treatment. The color of Sha and rate of fading can indicate important information about a patient’s condition. Pain relief lasts even after the Sha is completely gone.
The benefits of Gua Sha are numerous.
- Resolves spasms and pain,
- Promotes normal circulation to the muscles, tissues and organs
- Immediate effect on coughing and wheezing.
- Causes a four-fold increase in microcirculation of surface tissue
- Can reduce inflammation and stimulate the immune system
- Gua sha upregulates heme-oxygenase-1 (HO-1), that acts to reduce internal organ inflammation, for example, in cases of asthma, hepatitis and liver disease.
(Nielsen et al. 2007) and (Braun et al. 2011; Chan et al. 2011).
Inflammation is one of the most prominent symptoms today when your immune system is resistant or compromised by another disorder.
We use acupuncture and Gua Sha together as a combination therapy to address the immune system and pain issues through stimulation.
Our Goal at McKay Healing Arts no matter what the disease or disorder is administer acupuncture and other therapies such as Gua sha, Medical Qigong, Massage, to stimulate the immune system and let the human body heal itself.
References Braun, M., Schwickert, M., Nielsen, A., et al., 2011. Effectiveness of Traditional Chinese ‘Gua Sha’ Therapy in Patients with Chronic Neck Pain; A Randomized Controlled Trial. Pain Med 12 (3), 362–369. Chan, S., Yuen, J., Gohel, M., et al., 2011. Guasha-induced hepatoprotection in chronic active hepatitis B: A case study. Clin Chim Acta 412 (17–18), 1686–1688. Kwong KK, Kloetzer L, Wong KK et al. 2009. Bioluminescence imaging of heme oxygenase-1 upregulation in the Gua Sha procedure. J Vis Exp. 30 (August 28):1385. Nielsen, A., 2012. Gua Sha. A Traditional Technique for Modern Practice, 2nd ed. Elsevier, Edinburgh. Nielsen, A., Knoblauch, N.T.M., Dobos, G.J., et al., 2007. The Effect of Gua Sha Treatment on the Microcirculation of Surface Tissue: A Pilot Study in Healthy Subjects. Explore (NY) 3 (5), 456–466.