"Gua sha" refers to scraping therapy. In the hot season, when people travel long distances, seek coolness, drink cold water in large quantities, get caught in the rain, or indulge in excessive eating and drinking, or come into contact with filth and foul odors, they may develop sha. It causes temporary stagnation of qi and blood, and the onset of the disease is intense, requiring immediate treatment.
Gua sha has a long history, dating back to the Paleolithic era. At that time, when people fell ill, they would inadvertently rub or strike a certain part of their body with their hands or stone chips, sometimes finding relief from their ailments. Over time, this developed into the rudimentary form of "gua sha".
Traditional Chinese medicine ancestors believed that the human body is similar to nature, with the body being like the earth and blood vessels and nerves being like water channels. When the water channels become blocked, the land cannot be irrigated, and when the blood vessels and nerves are not unobstructed, diseases can occur. "All diseases arise from stagnation." Through gua sha, the blood vessels are unblocked, and with the assistance of cupping therapy, the stagnation is directly eliminated, achieving a holistic therapeutic effect.
Gua sha is a traditional folk therapy for treating heatstroke, with a wide range of applications, as documented in ancient texts, with over a hundred different conditions: cold, fever, cough, sore throat, acute gastroenteritis, rheumatic diseases, acute abdominal pain, and intestinal obstruction (small intestine shaqi), among others.
Gua sha is not the only method for treating sha. There are also methods such as grabbing, pinching, pulling, picking, fumigating, and bathing with sha.
In cases of mild sha, common symptoms include dizziness, a heavy and throbbing headache, blurred vision, general discomfort, a feeling of oppression in the chest, cold limbs, and slow pulse. Immediately use a porcelain spoon dipped in clean water to scrape the two elbow pits or the two (Yueguo) pits, or scrape the sides of the spine and neck from top to bottom until the skin turns red and purple spots appear. You can also use your index and middle fingers dipped in clean water to lightly pinch the aforementioned skin, causing sha points to appear. At the same time, take Rendan or Jinlingdan orally.
When the sha is severe, there may be severe abdominal pain, a desire to vomit without actually vomiting, a desire to have a bowel movement without actually having one, excessive sweating on the head, restlessness, a pale face and cold limbs, and a deep and weak pulse. Use a triangular needle or an empty needle, after routine disinfection, to puncture and bleed the small blood vessels that appear purplish on the surface of the (Yueguo) pits. At the same time, take Shidi Shui or Yushu Dan, Wuji Dan, etc. orally.
