Guasha is a form of traditional Chinese therapy that has gained popularity due to its non-invasive nature. But what does it mean when you feel nodules during a guasha treatment?
What Does it Mean When You Feel Nodules During Guasha?
When guasha is performed, feeling nodules near acupuncture points is a result of the adhesion of capillaries and muscle tissues caused by toxins and waste in the body. Unlike thyroid nodules or breast nodules in Western medicine, this is considered a normal phenomenon.
The stimulation from guasha can regulate the neuroendocrine system, improve vascular dilation and contraction, and enhance the permeability of blood vessel walls. This can improve local blood supply, promote overall blood circulation, relieve pain, and eliminate the nodules caused by toxin buildup. As a result, the blood is purified, the body's resistance is increased, and the severity of the illness is reduced, promoting recovery.
According to traditional Chinese medicine, when the meridians are unobstructed, there is no pain. In guasha treatment, we can see that eliminating the pain focus also eliminates muscle tension. If tense muscles are relaxed, pain and compression symptoms can be significantly reduced or disappear, which is beneficial for the recovery of the affected area.
Pictures of Detoxification through Guasha on Both Sides of the Neck
Guasha on both sides of the neck can indeed help with detoxification. When guasha is performed on the neck, the appearance of sha (reddish marks) suggests the possibility of conditions such as chronic pharyngitis, tonsillitis, or bronchitis affecting nearby organs and tissues.
Guasha on Both Sides of the Neck Method:
1. Apply red flower oil: First, apply red flower oil to the areas that need guasha, and prepare the guasha board.
2. Guasha on the back of the neck and shoulders: Along the side of the neck muscles, guasha from the fengchi point to the shoulder shu points, with a focus on strengthening the guasha on the fengchi, tianzhu, jianzhongshu, and jianwaishu points.
Note: In the guasha treatment, instruct the patient to relax as much as possible. After the treatment, advise them to engage in functional exercises to promote blood circulation and meridian flow.
Is It Normal to Feel Itchy During Guasha?
Feeling itchy after guasha is not a sign of detoxification.
Guasha involves the use of a specific guasha board to repeatedly scrape and rub specific acupuncture points on the body, causing localized sha to appear on the skin. This process helps activate blood circulation, remove stasis, and expel toxins. The appearance of sha is actually a result of small blood vessels breaking and bleeding on the skin's surface, with blood penetrating the surrounding tissues to promote circulation and restore balance. Due to the skin's surface being damaged during guasha, feeling a burning or tingling sensation in the treated area is normal, but it should not be considered a sign of detoxification.
Is Guasha Harmful to the Body at Night?
Guasha at Night is Harmless
Guasha can be performed at any time, regardless of whether it is in the morning or at night. However, the temperature tends to be lower at night, so it is important to ensure that you stay warm when performing guasha at night.
Some People May Have Trouble Sleeping After Guasha at Night
In addition, some individuals may have difficulty sleeping after guasha at night. This is because guasha stimulates the tendons, promotes blood circulation, and expels stasis, which can lead to a feeling of excitement in the body and nerves. Some individuals who are sensitive to such sensations may have trouble falling asleep after guasha at night. Moreover, the area where sha appears after guasha treatment often feels hot and painful, and some individuals may also experience itching. These factors can also affect sleep quality.
If you have tried guasha at night and it has affected your sleep, it is recommended to try guasha at a different time for treatment.
What Are the Contraindications for Guasha Therapy?
Although guasha can be used to treat various conditions, there are certain precautions and contraindications.
1. Patients with bleeding tendencies should avoid or use guasha therapy cautiously. Examples include thrombocytopenic diseases, allergic purpura, leukemia, etc. In these cases, tonifying methods or balanced tonification and purgation methods are recommended instead of purgation guasha therapy.
2. Patients with severe conditions such as acute infectious diseases and severe heart diseases should be immediately hospitalized for observation and treatment. If there are no other options, guasha therapy can be used temporarily for emergency treatment to buy time for further treatment opportunities.
3. Guasha should not be performed on newly fractured areas and should be postponed until the fracture has healed. Guasha should also be avoided on surgical scars for at least two months. Guasha should be used with caution on surgical scars of patients with malignant tumors.
4. Infectious skin diseases such as abscesses, furuncles, ulcers, sexually transmitted skin diseases, and unexplained lumps on the skin should not be directly treated with guasha.
5. Guasha on the abdomen of elderly or weak individuals, on an empty stomach, or during menstruation should be light and gentle. Guasha on the face of women should also be gentle and not cover a large area.
6. Guasha should be avoided in individuals who are fearful or allergic to guasha therapy.
7. Pregnant women and women during menstruation should not have guasha on the lower abdomen or on acupuncture points such as Sanyinjiao, Hegu, or Zusanli. The guasha technique should be gentle and tonifying.
Precautions for Guasha Therapy
Before Guasha:
1. Guasha therapy requires exposed skin and open sweat glands. If exposed to wind and cold, the pathogenic factors may enter the body through the open pores, affecting the effectiveness of guasha therapy and potentially causing new illnesses. Therefore, it is important to choose a good treatment location with fresh and well-ventilated air, and pay attention to keeping warm. It is advisable to minimize skin exposure.
2. Choose a comfortable position for guasha treatment to facilitate scraping and prevent dizziness.
3. Strictly disinfect guasha tools to prevent cross-infection. Carefully inspect guasha tools before treatment to avoid skin injuries.
4. The hands of the practitioner should also be disinfected.
5. Before guasha, it is important to explain the general knowledge of guasha to the patient, dispel any fears, and gain their cooperation to prevent dizziness during the treatment.
6. Guasha treatment should be avoided in patients who are excessively hungry, full, or highly stressed.
During Guasha:
1. The guasha technique should be firm and even, applying pressure that the patient can tolerate until sha appears.
2. Infants, young children, and the elderly should receive lighter guasha pressure.
3. Do not excessively pursue the appearance of sha by using excessive force or extending the guasha time. The amount of sha is influenced by various factors. Generally, blood stasis conditions produce more sha; excess and heat conditions produce more sha; deficiency and cold conditions produce less sha; excessive medication, especially the use of corticosteroids, may hinder the appearance of sha; obese individuals and those with well-developed muscles may produce less sha; yin meridians produce less sha compared to yang meridians; and lower room temperatures hinder the appearance of sha.
4. During guasha, regularly inquire about the patient's sensations. If dizziness occurs, such as fatigue, dizziness, pale complexion, nausea, cold sweat, palpitations, cold limbs, low blood pressure, or loss of consciousness, guasha should be immediately stopped. Comfort the patient, help them lie down, keep them warm, and offer warm water or sugar water to drink. If symptoms persist, lightly press the angles of the guasha board on the water trench acupoints, avoiding the appearance of edema. Apply purgation guasha therapy to the baihui and yongquan points. After the patient's condition improves, continue guasha on the neiguan and zusanli points.
After Guasha:
1. Guasha therapy promotes sweating and the expulsion of pathogenic factors, which consumes some body fluids. Therefore, after guasha treatment, the patient should drink a cup of warm water and rest for a while.
2. To avoid the invasion of wind and cold, it is necessary to wait for the skin pores to close and return to their original state before taking a bath, which usually takes about 3 hours.
3. For patients with complex and severe conditions, guasha therapy should be combined with other treatments, such as medication, to prevent delays in treatment.
