Guasha is a traditional method in Chinese medicine for disease prevention and treatment, while swimming is a popular summer activity for many people. So, can you swim the day after guasha?
Can you swim the day after guasha?
It is not recommended to swim the day after guasha.
Guasha involves using a specific material guasha board to repeatedly scrape and rub specific acupoints on the body, causing the skin to turn red or develop dark red bleeding spots, known as "sha". It has the effects of promoting blood circulation, expelling pathogens, and detoxifying. After guasha, the blood vessels dilate, sweat gland secretion increases, and the pores are open. The local skin's resistance is reduced, and it is generally not advisable to be exposed to wind or cold water within 3 hours to prevent the entry of cold and dampness into the body through the pores, which would outweigh the benefits.
On the second day after guasha, most people still have sha on their skin. Swimming, especially in relatively cool water for a long time, combined with the presence of many people in the swimming pool, can easily result in invasion of cold and skin infections.
How long after guasha can you swim?
For safety reasons, it is recommended to wait for about 5-7 days until the sha marks on the skin have faded before swimming.
The sha marks that appear after guasha are actually caused by local blood vessel rupture and bleeding, which permeate into the local tissues. At this time, the surface of the skin is in a slightly injured state, and the local skin's immune function is reduced. Swimming may cause skin infections. With the action of lymphocytes and phagocytes in the blood, it takes 5-7 days for the sha marks to gradually fade away. At this time, you can go swimming!
Note: The larger the area of sha and the darker the color, the longer it takes for the sha marks to fade. If the sha marks have not disappeared after 5-7 days, you can observe for a few more days.
Why does swimming after guasha feel uncomfortable?
1. Heaviness in limbs: Invasion of wind and cold
If you feel soreness and heaviness in your limbs, unable to feel energetic, immediately after guasha and swimming, it is likely caused by the opening of the pores during guasha, allowing the invasion of cold.
What to do:
In this case, you can seek guidance from a professional physician and take Chinese herbal medicine with the effects of warming the meridians and dispelling cold, and expelling wind and dampness.
2. Headache and runny nose: Cold and cold
If you experience symptoms such as headache, dizziness, runny nose, weakness in limbs, and drowsiness immediately after guasha and swimming, it is likely caused by catching a cold due to the opening of the pores after guasha, or a manifestation of low immune function.
What to do:
It is recommended to promptly treat and regulate the body through methods such as warming the interior and dispelling cold, and tonifying qi and stabilizing the exterior.
3. Skin pain and itching: Skin infection
If you experience pain and itching in the guasha area after swimming, it is likely due to infection or allergy of the skin caused by contact with unclean swimming pool water.
What to do:
It is recommended to rinse the body with clean warm water immediately after getting out of the water, and avoid scratching. If there is no improvement after observing for a period of time, it is recommended to seek medical treatment and use medication.
What to do if you swim after guasha?
1. Keep warm in time
If you swim after guasha, you should add clothing in time to avoid aggravating the invasion of cold and dampness.
2. Promote sweating and release exterior
If you feel cold and chilly after swimming after guasha, you can eat some sweating-inducing foods to expel the pathogenic wind, such as ginger, chili, and other spicy foods. You can also drink hot soup and porridge.
3. Take a hot shower
If there is no obvious damage to the guasha area, you can take a hot shower after swimming to stimulate the pores to open again, and use temperature to remove dampness.
Can you take a shower the day after guasha?
Generally, you can take a shower.
After guasha, you should take a shower 1-6 hours after guasha, depending on the severity of the sha. If the sha is mild, you can take a shower after 1 hour; if the sha is moderate, you can take a shower after 3 hours; if the sha is severe, you can take a shower after 6 hours.
Benefits of guasha on the back for women
1. Promote metabolism
The human body is constantly undergoing metabolic activities every day, and waste generated during metabolism needs to be excreted in a timely manner. Guasha can timely scrape the "garbage" of metabolism from the body to the surface of the skin, accumulating in the pores under the skin, making the blood flow in the body smooth and restoring natural metabolic vitality.
2. Relax tendons and activate meridians
More and more people are suffering from cervical spondylosis, shoulder periarthritis, and back pain. This is because when the "soft tissues" (joint capsules, ligaments, fascia, etc.) of the body are injured, the muscles will be in a tense, contracted, or even spasmodic state, causing pain symptoms. If not treated in time, it can lead to varying degrees of adhesion, fibrosis, or scar formation, worsening the condition. Guasha can relax tendons, activate meridians, and eliminate pain, helping relieve muscle tension, significantly reducing pain symptoms, and promoting the recovery of the affected area.
3. Adjust yin and yang
"Balancing yin and yang is the key to maintaining good health." Traditional Chinese medicine strongly emphasizes the balance of yin and yang in the body. Guasha has a bidirectional regulatory effect on the body's functions, improving and adjusting the functions of the organs, and restoring balance.
4. Regulate menstruation
Irregular menstruation (dysmenorrhea) in women is closely related to liver Qi stagnation. Liver stagnation can cause Qi stagnation, and Qi stagnation can cause blood stasis. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that pain occurs when Qi does not flow smoothly. Therefore, liver Qi stagnation is the main cause of irregular menstruation (dysmenorrhea). Guasha can quickly regulate liver Qi, promote blood circulation, unblock the meridians, and naturally relieve or treat dysmenorrhea.
Procedure: Guasha and cupping at the back of the liver for patients with dysmenorrhea, nodules will generally appear near the acupoint of the liver. The nodules have many manifestations, such as the size of soybeans. Cupping should be applied to the obvious nodules, usually for 10-15 minutes.
5. Treat gynecological diseases
Guasha combined with moxibustion can promote and warm the kidney meridian, thereby treating cold uterus and infertility.
Procedure: Guasha at the mingmen, shenshu, and guanyuan acupoints, and then perform moxibustion after sha appears. The duration varies from person to person. Patients with cold uterus and infertility can moxibustion for a longer time, as long as the local skin does not feel burning sensation, it can be moxibusted continuously for half an hour or even an hour, depending on the situation.
Precautions for guasha
1. Avoid wind and keep warm during guasha treatment
During guasha treatment, avoid wind and keep warm. When the room temperature is low, try to minimize the exposed areas. In summer, do not guasha near electric fans or in places with air flow. Guasha opens the pores and promotes sweating. If exposed to cold wind, the pathogenic wind can directly enter the body through the open pores, which not only affects the effectiveness of guasha treatment but also may cause new diseases due to exposure to wind and cold.
2. Treat only one condition at a time
During treatment, the scraping time should not be too long, and strictly adhere to the principle of treating only one condition at a time with guasha. Avoid large-scale guasha treatment continuously to protect the body's righteous energy.
In the textbook, when applying meridian acupoints in combination with holographic acupoint areas, multiple holographic acupoint treatment areas can be selected for each guasha treatment, but only 1-2 types should be chosen each time.
3. Drink a cup of hot water after guasha treatment
Guasha treatment promotes sweating and the expulsion of pathogenic wind, which consumes part of the body's fluid. After guasha treatment, drink a cup of hot water to replenish the consumed water and promote metabolism, accelerating the elimination of metabolic waste.
