Volume 3 Issue 4 - Winter 2008

by Arya Nielsen

Gua Sha is a traditional healing technique widely used in Asia, in Asian immigrant communities, and by acupuncturists and practitioners of traditional East Asian medicine worldwide. With Gua sha, a smooth-edged instrument is used to apply unidirectional surface pressure that raises transitory petechiae and ecchymosis, similar to the petechiae raised by cupping but typically over a larger area.