“Sometimes called coining, spooning or scraping, Gua
sha is defined as “instrument-assisted
unidirectional press stroking of a lubricated area
of the body surface that intentionally creates
‘transitory therapeutic petechiae’ representing
extravasation of blood in the subcutis.”
Gua sha
has been used for centuries in Asia, in Asian
immigrant communities, and by acupuncturists and
practitioners of traditional East Asian medicine
worldwide. With the expansion of traditional East
Asian medicine, Gua sha has been used over broad
geographic areas and by millions of people. Because
it stimulates the skin to bring sha rash to the
surface, releasing the exterior and resolving Qi and
Blood stagnation, it is valuable in the treatment of
pain and for functional problems with impaired
movement, the prevention and treatment of acute
infectious illness, upper respiratory and digestive
problems, and many acute or chronic disorders.
Research has demonstrated Gua sha radically
increases surface microperfusion that stimulates
immune and anti-inflammatory responses that persist
for days after treatment.
This second edition (2013) expands on the history
of Gua sha and similar techniques used in early
Western Medicine, detailing traditional theory,
purpose and application and illuminated by science
that focuses its relevance to modern clinical
practice as well as scholarly inquiry.
This book brings the technique alive for
practitioners, with clear discussion of how to do it
-including correct technique, appropriate
application, individualization of treatment – and
when to use it, with over 50 case examples, and over
30 superb color photographs and line drawings that
demonstrate the technique
New to this edition:
- New chapter on immediate and significant
Tongue changes as a direct result of
- Gua sha
- Research and biomechanisms
- Literature review from Chinese language as
well as English language medical journal
database
- New case studies
- Fully updated and revised throughout
- Over 30 colour photographs
About the Author’s:
Arya Nielsen, Ph.D., is an
American acupuncturist taught in the classical
lineage of Dr. James Tin Yau So and in practice for
over 35 years. She graduated in the first class of
the first acupuncture college in the United States
in 1977. She is a practitioner, teacher, author, and
researcher and is considered the Western authority
on the traditional East Asian technique Gua sha. Dr.
Nielsen has a faculty appointment at a New York
teaching hospital, Beth Israel Medical Center, where
se treats patients and also directs the Acupuncture
Fellowship for Inpatient Care through the Department
of Integrative Medicine.
Ted J. Kaptchuk is an Associate
Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School,
Boston, MA., He is Director of the Program in
Placebo Studies and the Therapeutic Encounter at
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and
the author of The Web that has no Weaver.
