Muscle scraping (guasha)

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Bernie
Posts: 1292
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:25 am
Location: Vancouver

Muscle scraping (guasha)

Post by Bernie »

I was recently asked the following question:
  • I’m wondering what you think of “muscle scraping.” I have a 21-year old friend who is into weightlifting, and I have just recently heard about these muscle scrapers, like the Sidekick Tool. Is this a bona fide therapeutic tool and technique? Thanks so much! You’re the one person I know and trust who will be informed about such matters….Much appreciated, D.

Hi D. Interesting question! Muscle scraping is also known in traditional Chinese medicine as guasha (sometimes spelled gua sha), or at least muscle scraping is one aspect of guasha. In the West, David Graston adopted this technique and trademarked as his own as the Graston Technique.

One study defines guasha as follows:
  • In ancient Chinese textbooks, “sha” refers to the red, millet-sized rash associated with blood stasis, while “gua” means instrument-assisted scraping at specific acupuncture points and meridians. Thus, gua sha therapy uses a variety of smooth-edged instruments (such as Chinese soup spoons, buffalo horn, and coins) to bring therapeutic petechiae to the body's acupuncture points and surface meridians by press-stroking. Gua sha therapy is a widely used, ancient, noninvasive healing technique in East Asia and communities of Asian immigrants. Recently, a cross-sectional study in Taipei City revealed that gua sha therapy was the third most widely accepted manipulative and manual therapy for the management of musculoskeletal pain, besides acupuncture–moxibustion therapy and Chinese tui na therapy. Moreover, another cross-sectional study found that approximately 25% of the general population in a Hong Kong community received gua sha therapy from complementary and alternative medicine practitioners as a main modality to manage pain-related conditions.

This study was evaluating whether guasha could be effective as a treatment for non-specific low back pain. The study concluded, “Gua sha therapy, as an easy-to-use, noninvasive complementary intervention, has been proven to exert anti-inflammatory and pain-easing effects on non-specific LBP in in vivo studies. Thus, gua sha therapy could provide CAM practitioners another treatment option for the management of non-specific LBP."

There have been Western studies done as well. This 2007 study found “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.” In other words, it increased blood flow and decrease pain.

So, as to your first question — yes muscle scraping (guasha) is an effective therapeutic tool.

In some circles muscle scraping falls under a broader category of "instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization" (IASTM). A 2019 review found some evidence that “The current literature provides support for IASTM in improving ROM in uninjured individuals as well as pain and patient-reported function (or both) in injured patients.”

To learn more about it, I recommend this article at the Cleveland Clinic

Cheers
Bernie
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