Gua sha, massage, cupping are all characteristic treatments of traditional Chinese medicine, which have special effects on promoting blood circulation and dredging meridians.

Many people have cupping and gua sha boards at home, but they don't know how to use them, so they have to be shelved, and now let's take them down, wipe them, and prepare to come in handy.

When to gua sha, when to cup, where to scrape, how long to pull, etc., often bothers everyone. Here's a look at the answers from TCM experts:

Gua sha is done after massage, gua sha is not enough, cupping to save, they complement each other and cross circulation. When combined, there will be unexpected effects.

01

massage

Some people say that there are so many massage techniques, can you explain it in two sentences? In fact, from the point of view of treatment, 80% of the techniques in the massage are flower fists and embroidered legs, what is the supplement and what is the laxative, in fact, you don't have to waste time studying these, you can defeat the enemy with one move, why bother to put out 100 kinds of flowers first?

Massage must find the meridians, the acupuncture points can not be found slowly, and the acupoints are not separated from the meridians. If there is pain in the stomach, you have to see what meridian the pain point is pressed on, and then massage the acupuncture points of the corresponding meridians on the legs. If the stomach meridian is painful, press the foot three miles on the leg, and if the spleen is painful, press the Yinling Spring...... This is just an example, there are more suitable acupuncture points to choose from.

Regarding the method of massage, the pain points are not obvious meridians and acupressure massage effect is poor, just like the kite string is broken or knotted halfway, and it is necessary to massage more sensitive acupoints. In addition, the effects of tapping and massage are similar and can be used interchangeably (e.g., knocking on the gallbladder meridian and stomach meridian).

02

Gua Sha

Misconceptions about gua sha

Some people are afraid of gua sha and think it is a treatment for damaging the skin. In fact, this is a misunderstanding, and the reason for the misunderstanding is that you have not experienced it personally, but only rely on visual experience, just like the misunderstanding of Chinese medicine in Western medicine, rejecting the actual experience, and only relying on the preconceptions of the senses. But when you have actually shaved once, and you have to find someone who knows how to do gua sha, you will accept this method at that time and exhale happily.

Take cervical spondylosis, a very common but difficult to cure disease, for example, using the gua sha method is really hand-in-hand. Of course, there are many diseases, such as the prevention and early treatment of cardiovascular diseases, if you can use the gua sha method skillfully, how many people will avoid the torment of heart bypass!

Gua sha is good at replenishing deficiency and dispelling cold

The best tool to use for gua sha is a gua sha board, and then with a bottle of gua sha oil, it's all there. Some people think that gua sha is only suitable for fever and real disease, which is really "strange injustice through the ages". In fact, the effect of gua sha is better.

Someone has a cold and high fever, and some people say, scrape the scraping, go to the fire, so they go through the scraping in the back bladder, and as soon as the sha comes out, the fire will disperse, and everyone thinks that it is a fire; In fact, it uses the accumulated heat in the body to drive away the wind chill in the back, so it should be said that it is to dispel the cold. It's right to say that it dispels fire, but it's not the kind of fire you understand.

Gua sha is the best at making up for deficiency, but it is not the deficiency of qi and blood, but the deficiency due to stasis.

For example, there is a patient who has no strength in his right wrist for some reason, and he can't even hold his school bag, and his fingers are always numb. When I went to the hospital, the doctor said that it might be a problem with the cervical spine or cranial nerves. But the MRI has been checked, and I can't find a reason. So I went to a friend who was a TCM expert to help diagnose and treat, and the expert said: "The numbness in the hands indicates that the qi and veins are open, but the qi and blood have not arrived." ”

How can there be strength in the lack of qi and blood in the wrist? But he himself is not a person with very weak qi and blood, so there must be blockages. The expert then searched carefully on his right arm and found that there was a little pain on the top of the patio point on his elbow, and an induration had formed.

He said that he had fallen and injured himself when he was playing football in this place two months ago, and he didn't care about it at the time, and it didn't hurt after 3 days, but he didn't expect it to become stasis. The expert was in his pain point and the entire Sanjiao meridian scraping, when the scraping was close to the wrist, the hand was already moving freely.

Those who are weak need to cultivate qi and blood first

If your body is too weak, you still have to cultivate your qi and blood before scraping, otherwise you won't get sha. It must be clear that the sha is not scraped out by you with a scraper, but by the qi and blood in your body. So when we scrape hard and can't get out of the sha, that is, the qi and blood in the body have not reached there, so don't work in vain.

The essence of gua sha

Some people say that sha is artificially caused by the damage of blood vessels, and it is the rupture of capillaries. In fact, gua sha is to remove the blood stasis adhered to the blood vessel wall to the outside of the blood vessel, and then reabsorb it into the blood vessel through the blood, and through the circulation of the whole body, the scraped waste is discharged from the urine.

It is worth mentioning that it is also the dream of Western medicine to remove blood stasis from the blood vessel wall to keep the elasticity and space of the blood vessels from becoming smaller, but Western medicine cannot do it, or it is impossible to do it, so it can only use blood vessel dilators or anticoagulants to keep the pipes open, so as to ensure blood supply.

The blood of the entire blood vessel is anticoagulated for the sake of indeterminate blood stasis, which is destined to change the normal composition of the blood and artificially cause symptoms of easy bleeding, and even cause the blood vessel walls to lose their elasticity and become stiff.

It's like there is a black spot on the white wall of our house, we just need to wipe it off with a damp cloth, but we found a high-pressure water gun to wash the whole room, causing the wall skin to fall off and the house to be damaged, which is really worth the loss! Our small gua sha board can easily solve the blood stasis of blood vessels, this is a world medical problem, don't you think it's amazing?

To get rid of flies, a fly swatter is enough, and those foreign guns and cannons are useless. Are you willing to blow up your house with a cannon in order to get rid of a fly in the house? But we often play this scene in the hospital without realizing it, or helpless.

When is it time to gua sha?

After talking for a long time, when should I get gua sha? Gua sha is good at replenishing deficiency and dispelling cold, so when there is cold in the body and blood stasis, it is best to use the method of gua sha to solve it.

How to gua sha?

Gua sha should be scraped along the meridians, preferably from top to bottom, which is more convenient; The scraper and the skin are kept at an acute angle below 45 degrees, which is relatively painless. It is best to use upper waist strength when scraping, which will save effort. In fact, to experience it yourself, the technique is the easiest to master.

There are still some people who are worried: Will there be any side effects of gua sha? This caution is right, the following crowd is not suitable for gua sha.

1. People with weak heart function are prone to fainting, especially when sitting and scraping, and generally have symptoms of palpitation, dizziness, and nausea.

2. Don't scrape a serious patient who is very weak in qi and blood, it will consume his qi and blood in vain, and the blood stasis scraped by such a person will not be taken away, and the sha that comes out will not go down for a long time.

3. People with skin diseases should not shave first, because they don't know the ins and outs of skin diseases, and sometimes they will lead out the internal poison but cannot excrete it.

4. Do not shave for pregnant women, safety first.

5. Cancer patients are also not recommended to scrape, there will be many unpredictable problems.

6. For people with bleeding tendencies, gua sha is a double-edged sword, with both special effects and dangers, so don't scrape if you don't know the cause.

7. Children under the age of 6 should not shave first, and can use chiropractic instead.

8. People with high blood pressure should not shave first. Although gua sha has a special effect on high blood pressure, the special effect is not a safe medicine, if you can't ensure safety, it is better to avoid the risk first!

In short, gua sha will speed up blood circulation, is a good exercise for the heart, and is safe and effective as a disease prevention.

03

Cupping

Usually our shoulders are very painful, and with the gua sha method, as long as the symptoms of sha are relieved immediately; But sometimes I don't get sha after shaving for a long time, and my shoulder still hurts, why is this happening?

There are two main reasons: one is that the lesion is very deep and cannot be touched by the scraping method; The second is that the qi and blood are insufficient, and the qi and blood in the body are not overcome, and it is difficult for the blood stasis to come out.

Gua sha is ineffective, cupping remedies

At this time, cupping can be used to achieve immediate results. If the lesion is deep, if a black and purple mark appears soon after a pull, the deep blood stasis will be pulled out; If there is still no mark under the can, then you should patiently pluck it here for a few days, 10 minutes a day, until a black mark appears.

Cupping can be replenished and discharged. If you want to tonify the kidney, just cupping in the kidney Yu acupoint; To replenish the stomach, it is cupping in the middle belly and Zusanli. If there are too many places to pull, it will disperse the qi and blood, and the effect of replenishment will not be achieved, and the qi and blood will be consumed in vain.

Cupping has the function of draining blood

The best function of cupping is its ability to drain blood. There is a diabetic patient who has an ulcer with a diameter of two inches near the knee three miles below the knee that has not healed for a long time, and has used various anti-inflammatory drugs, as well as traditional Chinese medicine Shengjisan, etc., but it has no effect.

Later, the doctor asked the patient to pull out a pot in the middle of the abdomen every day, and at the same time on the thigh and stomach on the affected side, through the calf nose from the Ji Guan → Fu Rabbit → Yin City →→ Liangqiu, all the way down, 5 cups at the same time, for 4 days, 5 minutes a day, and then use Shengmusan to heal. Why? The good blood was drained through cupping, and the damage was naturally repaired.

There are no strict requirements for the cupping operation method, buy a gun-type vacuum can, and save yourself from ignition. Apply some lubricating oil to the skin before pulling so that it will not be painful to pull the skin. The time of pulling is based on feeling comfortable, and those who are weak in qi and blood will be pulled out for a while. However, people with heavy moisture are prone to blistering (although blistering is better), which will affect the appearance of bathing and skin, so don't pull it for too long or too tightly.

In short, the combination of these methods is effective and effective, and it is widely recognized as a method for the treatment of multiple diseases. However, they are also slightly different, such as colds, heat stroke, stiff necks, and muscle spasms are suitable for gua sha treatment; Neck and shoulder pain, low back pain, and rheumatism can be cured by cupping; Insomnia, neck and shoulder pain, gastrointestinal discomfort, etc. can be relieved by massage.

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