| Gua sha | |||||||||||||||||
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| Chinese | 刮痧 | ||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "scraping sha-bruises" | ||||||||||||||||
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| This article is part of a series on |
| Alternative medicine |
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Gua sha (Chinese: 刮痧), kerokan or coining, is a pseudomedicine practice which is part of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Its practitioners use a tool to scrape people's skin to cause tissue damage in the belief this has medicinal benefit.[1][2] Gua sha is sometimes referred to as "scraping", "spooning" or "coining" by English speakers. The treatment has also been called the descriptive French name, tribo-effleurage.[3]
One research team has published two small studies, reporting short-term pain reduction. However, critics such as alternative medicine expert Edzard Ernst have pointed out the flaws in these studies, maintaining that this treatment modality is actively harmful, has no medical benefit,[1][2] and any apparent benefit from gua sha is due to the placebo effect.[4]
Effectiveness
Proponents believe that gua sha releases unhealthy bodily matter from blood stasis—which is an unscientific, unsupported idea—within sore, tired, stiff or injured muscle areas to stimulate new oxygenated blood flow to the areas, thus promoting metabolic cell repair, regeneration, healing and recovery.
A German research team has published two studies on a small group of volunteers to study the effectiveness of gua sha:[5]
- In one study, eleven patients were treated with gua sha to "study the microcirculatory effects of Gua Sha on the skin and subcutis in humans to elucidate physiological mechanisms responsible for the clinically observed pain-relieving effect of this treatment." The study concluded that, "Gua Sha increases microcirculation local to a treated area, and that increase in circulation may play a role in local and distal decrease in myalgia. Decrease in myalgia at sites distal to a treated area is not due to distal increase in microcirculation. There is an unidentified pain-relieving biomechanism associated with Gua Sha."[6]
- In a second study, forty-eight back or neck-pain patients either received a single session of gua sha, or were left untreated. The study concluded that, one week later, the treated patients had less pain than the untreated ones.[7]
Critics of this research have pointed out its flaws, observing that "With regard to pain management, gua sha only works because it takes your mind off your headache and onto another body part back throbbing from the flogging. By the time the bruising is gone, the headache would have vanished on its own".[8]
Science-Based Medicine has reported that gua sha is a pseudomedicine, without good evidence that it is of any benefit: "It’s bruising from trauma".[2]
As reported by the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, the side effects of gua sha range from minor ones – including dermatitis, burns and hematuria – to rare major ones including cerebral hematoma and severe injuries requiring skin grafts.[1] The injuries from gua skin resemble those from child abuse, and families have been prosecuted for using gua sha.[1]
Regarding why the German studies concluded gua sha is effective, alternative medicine expert Edzard Ernst wrote that these two studies do not, in fact, provide any good evidence at all for the efficacy of the treatment. Ernst said: "...the two trials just show how remarkable placebo-effects can be, particularly if the treatment is exotic, impressive, involves physical touch, is slightly painful and raises high expectations."[4]
History
Gua sha was transferred to Vietnam from China as cạo gió, and is very popular in Vietnam. This term translates roughly "to scrape wind", as in Vietnamese culture "catching a cold" or fever is often referred to as trúng gió, "to catch wind". The origin of this term is the Shang Han Lun, a c. 220 CE Chinese medical text on cold induced disease—as in most Asian countries, China's medical sciences were a profound influence in Vietnam, especially between the 5th and 7th centuries CE.[9] Cạo gió is an extremely common remedy in Vietnam and for expatriate Vietnamese.
In popular culture
The 2001 movie The Gua Sha Treatment (Chinese: 刮痧; pinyin: guā shā) was made in Hong Kong and showed gua sha.[10] It is a story about cultural conflicts experienced by a Chinese family in the United States.[11]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Vashi NA, Patzelt N, Wirya S, Maymone MBC, Zancanaro P, Kundu RV (2018). "Dermatoses caused by cultural practices: Therapeutic cultural practices". J Am Acad Dermatol (Review). 79 (1): 1–16. doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2017.06.159. PMID 29908818.
((cite journal)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c Crislip C (20 February 2015). "Traditional Chinese Pseudo-Medicine Hodgepodge". Science-Based Medicine.
- ^ Huard & Wong (1977), p.126. Also cited is a French romanization for the same set of two Chinese characters: koua sha.
- ^ a b Ernst, Edzard (11 January 2013). "Gua Sha: torture or treatment?". Edzardernst.com. Edzard Ernst. Archived from the original on 17 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
((cite web)): Unknown parameter|dead-url=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Moyer, Justin (24 September 2012). "Gua sha: Scraping of back is said to relieve pain and ease other medical problems". Washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 17 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
((cite web)): Unknown parameter|dead-url=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Nielsen, A. (1 September 2007). "The effect of Gua Sha treatment on the microcirculation of surface tissue: a pilot study in healthy subjects". Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Pub Med. Archived from the original on 17 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
((cite web)): Unknown parameter|dead-url=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Braun, M. (1 March 2011). "Effectiveness of traditional Chinese "gua sha" therapy in patients with chronic neck pain: a randomized controlled trial". Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Pub Med. Archived from the original on 17 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
((cite web)): Unknown parameter|dead-url=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ ""Bruise ruse" (Gua sha)". Molineskeptics.com. Moline Skeptics. 30 April 2015. Archived from the original on 17 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
((cite web)): Unknown parameter|dead-url=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Needham, J., Celestial Lancets, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University.
- ^ "EFL Movie Study Guide for: The Gua Sha Treatment". Krigline.com. Krigline. Archived from the original on 17 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
((cite web)): Unknown parameter|dead-url=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "The Treatment: User Reviews". IMDB.com. IMDB. Archived from the original on 17 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
((cite web)): Unknown parameter|dead-url=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help)