Gua Sha....Tell me more!

I'm sure you've seen plenty of videos on TikTok with all the influencers talking about how you should use this, buy that, definitely don't do that! Well let me help you out. I'll start with Gua Sha since that seems to be a pretty popular topic. Even my 14 y/o uses a gua sha stone in her regimen. Man, that girl's skin is never going to age if she keeps up her skin care routine! I digress, where was I? Oh yeah...Gua Sha! Lets starts from the beginning...

Gua Sha began as part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) dating all the way back to the Paleolithic Age. The practitioner would uses whatever they could find that was flat and smooth, but typically involved jade, ox horn or bian stone.

"Gua Sha" are actually words translated from Chinese symbols, "gua" meaning scrape, and "sha" meaning sand/petechiae. At it's origin the technique was used to relieve pain and even illnesses like cholera. They would use their stone and rub it in one direction over and over again on a particular part of the body until the skin turned red with petechiae, as it was thought to be a sign from the body that the stagnant energy was being re-invigorated and the energy was moving properly again.

In TCM they believed illnesses and ailments could be caused by stagnation of the natural energy(qi) of the body. Positively impacting one's qi is believed to bring balance and harmony to the body, therefore healing any pains or illnesses.

Gua is used in Western Medicine today, most physical therapists and chiropractors call it "scraping", but its the same principle. Its used to help work out tight muscles and breakdown scar tissue. In the beauty industry we use gua sha techniques for it sculpting and smoothing benefits. Using the gua sha stone with the appropriate pressure encourages your lymphatic system to kick it up a notch and rid our tissue of built up fluid that we sometimes don't realize we are retaining. Its also a wonderful technique to help smooth out the fascia, our connective tissue the binds our skin to our muscles. Over time that fascia can start to bunch up due to dehydration and poor circulation. Imagine a flat sheet, if you will. If that flat sheet is all bunched up when you lay the quilt down, it will look wrinkled and definitely not smooth. Our fascia is the flat sheet.

Incorporating a gua sha massage in your facial and in your daily routine will add so many amazing benefits! Including but not limited to a more sculpted and toned appearance, stress and anxiety reliever, improved complexion and minimized dark undereye circles with improved circulation that delivers oxygen and nutrients to the skin.