What Are Advantages of Gua Sha?
Time of issue:2023-01-17
Gua Sha (pronounced gwa-shah!) is a tool (or multiple tools) used to scrape the skin to increase blood circulation. Thousands of years ago, ancient Chinese medicine practitioners used scraping tools to increase blood circulation and heal the body.
When you give yourself a Gua Sha massage, you're actually scraping all the water and lymphatic fluid under your skin up to the edges of your face, then pulling it down your neck to drain. It's kind of gross, but also cool, right? It moves all the blood under your skin, so your face is plumped up with fresh, fresh blood after the scraping.
In Chinese medicine, gua sha comes in the form of spoons and other objects (which are not exactly like all the scraping stones you see on Instagram). Typically, scraping is made from jade or rose quartz stones (jade is known for its purifying and healing energies).
Benefits of Gua Sha
1. Add facial contour
Your scraping doesn't need an expensive finishing powder! As you scrape the shaving stone across your cheeks, you'll begin to notice facial contours you never knew existed. While this slimming effect is only temporary, over time, getting the blood circulating and flowing around all the lymphatic drainage will only help if you want to slim your face.
2. Improves blood circulation
Gua Sha is a tool to increase blood flow to the face. Circulation itself has many benefits, from reducing inflammation, adding radiance to the skin, anti-aging and more.
3. Helps with lymphatic drainage
Have excess fluid on your face? Gua Sha can help with that. Lymphatic fluid is basically all the fluid that comes from the lymph nodes but has not fully returned to the cardiovascular system. Massaging the skin helps drain the fluid from the face (nausea) and Gua Sha is the perfect tool to get all that fluid out of the body.
4. Can help with dry skin
Stop pressing - Gua Sha may save all you dry skin girls! Once again, as you get all those toxins out of your face, your skin starts to fill with moisture because it's no longer heavy.
5. Reduces acne and helps with anti-aging
Yes, shaving is basically a miracle worker. All the lymphatic drainage lurking in your skin will inevitably lead to some buildup, which can lead to acne, texture and dullness in your skin. Therefore, massage will bring elasticity and brightness to your skin. Using greater pressure can even help you with fine lines and wrinkles.
6. Relieves Muscle Tension
As you scrape Gua Sha across your skin, you will begin to feel an immediate relaxation in your face. For years, everyone thought I had TMJ disorder because of my jaw problem, but it turns out that when I was stressed (which was basically all the time), I would clench my jaw in my sleep. As soon as I started using Gua Sha, I immediately noticed that my jaw was less tight and more relaxed than ever before.
The scraping you do with a gua sha board breaks down the muscle tissue called fascia, which brings circulation and makes the muscles more relaxed. If you're dealing with stress and can feel it on your face, gua sha is a super easy way to relieve stress while adding some great self-care to your day.
An added bonus: fewer headaches!
How to use gua sha?
First, apply a moisturizer or oil to your skin.
Forehead: Place your supporting hand on one side of your forehead and hold. With the flat side of the gua sha in the other hand, scrape along the forehead to the hairline. Gently shake the gua sha to promote lymphatic drainage. Repeat on the other side.
Eyebrows: If using a gua sha board with a heart-shaped edge, scrape that side to the tip of the nose and then rub along the brow line to the temples. Wiggle slightly, then repeat on the other side.
Under the eyes: Holding the nose with a supporting hand, rub one of the curved edges below the eye line to the temple. Oscillate the gua sha as before and repeat on the other side.
Cheekbones: Place the supporting hand above the mouth. Take the flat side of the scraper so that it covers the length of the cheek and rub upward toward the ear. Then gently swing back and forth before repeating on the other side.
Jawline: Place the supporting hand in the center of the cheek. Take the double forked side of the gua sha and angle the center of the chin to the curve of the gua sha so that there is a fork on each side of the chin. Rub along the chin to the end of the ear. Wiggle the scraping pad slightly and repeat on the other side.
Neck: Place the supporting hand on the collarbone. Take the long, curved side of the scraper and rub upward to the chin. Wiggle slightly and repeat along the rest of the neck.
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