How to use Gua Sha massage tools for different body parts

Gua Sha massage tools can be used for different parts of your body to enhance your wellbeing. We have listed some information below on the benefits of using Gua Sha for your face, ears, head, neck and shoulders, back and waist, chest, abdomen, and limbs.

Face

Benefits on using Gua Sha tools on your face:

• Removes spots
• Firms up your sagging facial muscles
• Smoothens the skin and reduces the appearance of wrinkles on your face
• Clears clogged pores
• Improves dark circles and bags under the eyes (the kind you get from advancing age)
• Lightens age spots and other skin discolorations
• Your complexion gets rosier and more radiant
• Helps clear up acne, rosacea, and other skin diseases on your face • Indirectly aides the zang-fu organs

How to use Gua Sha tools on your face:

• Imagine moving the stagnant lymph from the middle of your face up to the temple and all the way to the hairline.
• Third Eye: Stroke from the center of your eyebrows up to your hairline
• Lower forehead: Sweep from the median part of your forehead above your eyebrows, towards your temples
• Under eyebrow: Scrape the area between the eyebrow and the eyes (the bone of the brow) with the curved side of the Hana Emi Bian Stone Gua Sha.
• Under the eyes: Gently stroke the area underneath your eyes (where your eye-bags generally appear). Using un upward stroke, start from the side of your nose and go up to your temple
• Cheeks: Do the same sweeping motion for the cheek area. Go from the side of your nose, across your cheek, and up again to the middle of your ear
• Mouth: Do the same for the mouth area again sweeping the lymph upward to your ear
• Chin: Sweep from the middle of your face, under your lower lip and to the earlobe
• Under chin: Scrape from the soft area under your chin to the bottom of your ear
• Neck: Scrape from your jaw and earlobe down to the middle of your collarbone
• The big sweep: Collect all the lymph you’ve moved to the side of the face and dump it to your lymphatic drainage. Sweep from the center of your forehead right under your hairline, down to your temple, down to your ear until you reach your neck and terminus area. Do several times for a clean sweep.

Ear

Benefits of using Gua Sha tools on your ears:

• Lowers blood pressure and improves circulation • Relieves earaches
• Relieves gastric spasms
• Improves whole- body health

How to use Gua Sha tools on your ears:

• Scrape the anterior and posterior surfaces of the ear with the edge of the Hana Emi Bian Stone Gua Sha tool
• Use the corner of the tool for points inside the concha

Note, do not use excessive force on the concha to avoid injuring the outer ear.

Head

Benefits of using Gua Sha tools on your head:

• Improves blood circulation
• Relieves brain fatigue
• Nourishes the brain to enhance intelligence
• Relieves migraine
• Maintains the brain young
• Prevents mental weakness and cerebrovascular diseases • Relieves headache, dizziness, insomnia, and poor memory • Strengthens the functions of the zang-fu organs

How to use Gua Sha tools on your head:

• For meridians of the head: scrape from anterior-superior to posterior-inferior on the sides of head; from back to front or front to back on the vertex
• Scrape from top to bottom on the occiput with strong pressure
• Scrape until you feel warmth on the scalp
• Only use the treatment during daytime. Scraping before sleep is forbidden, as it will stimulate the nervous system and cause insomnia

Neck and Shoulders

Benefits of using Gua Sha tools on your neck and shoulders:

• Prevents and treats cervical spondylitis • Improves elasticity
• Relaxes muscles and releases stress
• Prevents neck and shoulder strain
• Regulates blood pressure

How to use Gua Sha tools on your neck and shoulders:

• Scrape from top to bottom on the neck and from the middle to the sides on the shoulder
• Scrape on the sides of the Adam's apple (ST9) gently and slowly to protect the underlying artery

Back and Waist

Benefits of using Gua Sha tools on your back and waist:

• Relieves back pain, low back pain, shoulder pain and leg pain • Relaxes muscles and releases stress
• Regulates the zang-fu organs,
• Prevents and treats the common cold, cough, fever, heart palpitations, poor appetite, acid regurgitation, stomachache, diarrhea, constipation, chest and rib pain, liver qi stagnation, deficiency of the spleen, stomach and pancreas
• Prevents and treats disorders of the endocrine, urinary and reproductive systems

How to use Gua Sha tools on your back and waist:

• Divide the back into three sections about 12-15 cm long and scrape from top to bottom.
• Scrape from the middle to the sides along with ribs
• Use repeated strokes for short durations on the midline of the back and lumbosacral region along the path of the Governing Vessel where there is little fat or muscle
• Use the corners of the Hana Emi Bian Stone Gua Sha tool on the Jiaji points to locate reactive points. Once located, use the corners to scrape the points from top to bottom.

Chest

Benefits of using Gua Sha tools on your chest:

• Improves the functions of heart and lung
• Prevents and treats heart palpitations, shortness of breath, chest oppression, and insufficient blood-supply to the heart
• Treats hyperplasia of the breasts
• Treats the common cold, cough, sore throat and fever

How to use Gua Sha tools on your chest:

• Scrape from the middle to the sides along with ribs. Do not use strong force or scrape quickly on the ribs
• Scrape over the zang fu organs using small angles, strong pressure and slow speed
• Try to avoid the intercostal spaces when using the gua sha tool

Abdomen

Benefits of using Gua Sha tools on your abdomen:

• Regulates gastrointestinal function
• Improves gastrointestinal peristalsis
• Eases urination
• Opens the bowels
• Helps you lose weight and reduces abdominal fat
• Relieves diarrhea, constipation, abdominal distension and pain
• Treats dysmenorrhea, irregular menstruation, and pelvic inflammation
• Prevents and treats diseases of the small and large intestine

How to use Gua Sha tools on your abdomen:

• Scrape from top to bottom
• Scrape gently and slowly

Limbs

Benefits of using Gua Sha tools on your limbs:

• Prevents joint pain, muscle injuries and sprains
• Scraping the meridians on the arms prevents and treats diseases of the heart, lung, small intestine, large intestine, endocrine system and nervous system
• Scraping the meridians of the legs prevents and treats diseases of liver, gallbladder, spleen, stomach, kidney and bladder of the digestive, urinary and reproductive systems. Frequent scraping of the hands and feet is good for general health.

How to use Gua Sha tools on your limbs:

• Scrape in segments from top to bottom centered on the acupoints to be treated. If there are varicose veins, scrape more gently and from bottom to top. Do not perform gua sha if you suffer from severe varicosities
• Scrape downward along the curvature of bones around joints. Do not perform gua sha near swollen or acutely inflamed joints
• Use patting manipulation on the elbow and knee fossa. Do not use patting if there are varicose veins in the knee fossa
• Use gua sha oil before scraping the back of the hand, second metatarsal bone and dorsum of the foot

Do not perform gua sha during the acute stage of tendon and ligament injuries.