One of the major objectives of Chinese medicine is to clear stagnation.
If water cannot flow from a hose, you have to untangle the kink. Acupuncture aims to free blocked qi in the internal organs. A technique called gua sha unties knots closer to the surface.
Gua sha has been used for at least 2,000 years, and is probably the easiest modality in Chinese folk medicine to learn. You don’t have to know the locations of any acupuncture points or meridians. With a little instruction anyone can do it, yet it can still be extremely effective. Pain and range of motion can improve in just one session.
“Gua sha” means “scraping sand” in Chinese, and the process actually produces an image similar to a charcoal rubbing. In this case, the paper is your skin, and the charcoal is a smooth, blunt edge (traditionally a porcelain soup spoon). Applying firm strokes creates marks which reveal where stagnation lies in the muscle.
