Gua-Sha and Chiropractic Care: A Guide to Healing

Learn how gua-sha and chiropractic care can support your journey to wellness and alleviate discomfort naturally and effectively.

Introduction

When it comes to many individuals dealing with musculoskeletal pain, it can be due to many environmental factors that can affect the body. Excessive movement can affect different body areas, from overly stressful days to injuries. Some of the more common musculoskeletal issues are neck, shoulder, and back pain. These muscle issues can cause referred pain to the upper and lower extremities while causing the affected muscles to become tight and stiff. When individuals are experiencing musculoskeletal pain, many can incorporate non-surgical treatments to not only relax the body but also reduce the overlapping symptoms of musculoskeletal pain affecting the muscles. One of the most underutilized and effective tools that can help relax the affected muscles is Gua Sha therapy.

 

What is Gua-Sha?

Gua Sha is a traditional healing technique incorporating a smooth-edged tool made from either jade, rose quartz, or metal to scrape the skin gently. This technique has been used regularly in China and Southeast Asia and has therapeutic properties to restore the body’s chi or energy. “Gua Sha” means scraping stagnant blood to increase circulation beneath the skin. Thus enhancing the immune surveillance function of the affected muscle. (Chu et al., 2021) GuaSha therapy can be a powerful therapeutic tool for reducing inflammation in soft tissues, improving mobility within the extremities, and relieving muscle pain.

 

How Gua-Sha Helps With Musculoskeletal Pain

Now, when it comes to individuals dealing with musculoskeletal pain, it is often associated with overuse, repetitive movements, injuries, poor posture, or chronic conditions. When these environmental factors start to cause musculoskeletal pain, it can affect different body areas, especially the neck, shoulders, and back. These common areas of musculoskeletal pain can cause localized or referred pain that causes the muscles, fascia, and ligaments to be pain generators due to overuse, leading to myofascial pain and muscle trigger points. (Knezevic et al., 2021) Gua Sha therapy can address these root musculoskeletal causes by:

• Breaking up fascia adhesions and scar tissue within the soft tissues
•  Gua Sha can reduce inflammation in the affected area by improving muscle microcirculation.
• Help stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, providing pain relief
• Releasing muscle tension and myofascial trigger points in the upper and lower extremities
• Helps to enhance lymphatic drainage, thus reducing swelling and stagnation

In short, Gua Sha can help remove du meridian obstructions, replenish the body’s energy, remove blood stasis, and promote blood circulation for natural healing. (Wang et al., 2020)

 

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Discovering the Benefits of Chiropractic Care- Video

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Gua-Sha & Chiropractic Care: A Powerful Combination

When individuals are experiencing musculoskeletal issues within their upper and lower extremities correlated with environmental factors, many will often seek non-surgical treatment for their pain. Some non-surgical treatments, like chiropractic care, can benefit the musculoskeletal system. Chiropractic care emphasizes diagnosing and managing musculoskeletal disorders that use mechanical and manual spinal manipulation. (Trager et al., 2024) Combined with Gua Sha, it can be more effective in promoting healing properties since chiropractic care helps restore joint mobility and realign the spine. Gua-Sha helps break down or scrape the surrounding tissues. For chiropractors, incorporating the Graston technique (another form of Gua Sha) utilizes specialized instruments to modify the affected body area structure and composition of soft tissue. This then enhances fascia mobility while addressing tissue adhesions. (Deshmukh & Phansopkar, 2023)

 

The Benefits of Chiropractic Care & Gua-Sha

Among the many advantages of chiropractic care is its ability to help people maintain optimal musculoskeletal alignment, significantly reducing discomfort in the muscles, joints, bones, and connective tissues. (Chu and colleagues, 2023) When combined with chiropractic therapy, gua sha’s health benefits may provide:

• Back, shoulder, and neck pain alleviation
• Boost your muscles’ flexibility and range of motion.
• Reduced swelling in the afflicted muscle region
• Quickens the body’s healing process

Gua-Sha and chiropractic adjustments may be part of an individual’s personalized treatment plan to address the underlying problems that impact the whole kinetic body chain. To promote mobility, decrease guarding, restore tissue function and flow, and boost treatment efficacy, chiropractors may use Gua Sha either before or after a chiropractic adjustment. This, in turn, facilitates effective musculoskeletal mobility and long-term repair.

 

Common Gua-Sha Uses In Musculoskeletal Care

Gua Sha therapy is a mild, non-invasive treatment that can be tailored to each patient’s tolerance and healing requirements and is useful for many ailments. This contains:

• Prolonged lower back or neck discomfort
• SOS (myofascial pain)
• Syndrome of carpal tunnel
• Tendonitis, such as Achilles tendonitis or tennis elbow
• Plantar fasciitis
• Post-operative rigidity or scarring
• Tension headaches and dysfunction of the TMJ

Gua Sha treatment has several positive benefits on the musculoskeletal system, but it may not be appropriate for everyone with bleeding disorders or certain skin or vascular diseases. People should speak with their affiliated healthcare professionals about a suitable, individualized treatment strategy for certain situations.

 

Conclusion

Chiropractic adjustments combined with Gua Sha may be a component of a personalized therapy plan for people with environmental-related musculoskeletal pain who want a holistic approach without the use of drugs. Together, these factors may improve soft tissue health and spinal alignment, lowering the likelihood that musculoskeletal diseases will recur. Gua Sha treatment and chiropractic care may help people become pain-free and provide a whole team to support them on their health journey once they think about their well-being.

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Injury Medical & Functional Medicine Clinic

We associate with certified medical providers who understand the importance of assessing individuals dealing with musculoskeletal pain by incorporating Gua-Sha and chiropractic care. When asking important questions to our associated medical providers, we advise patients to utilize Gua-Sha combined with chiropractic care to reduce musculoskeletal pain and restore soft tissue mobility in the extremities. Dr. Alex Jimenez, D.C., uses this information as an academic service. Disclaimer.

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References

Chu, E. C., Lin, A. F. C., & Chu, V. (2023). The Inclusion of Chiropractic Care in the Healthy China Initiative 2030. Cureus, 15(8), e43068. doi.org/10.7759/cureus.43068

Chu, E. C. P., Wong, A. Y. L., Sim, P., & Kruger, F. (2021). Exploring scraping therapy: Contemporary views on an ancient healing – A review. J Family Med Prim Care, 10(8), 2757-2762. doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_360_21

Deshmukh, N. S., Jr., & Phansopkar, P. (2023). Effect of the Graston Technique and Cupping Therapy on Pain and Functions in Individuals With Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Cureus, 15(11), e48246. doi.org/10.7759/cureus.48246

Knezevic, N. N., Candido, K. D., Vlaeyen, J. W. S., Van Zundert, J., & Cohen, S. P. (2021). Low back pain. The Lancet, 398(10294), 78-92. doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(21)00733-9

Trager, R. J., Bejarano, G., Perfecto, R. T., Blackwood, E. R., & Goertz, C. M. (2024). Chiropractic and Spinal Manipulation: A Review of Research Trends, Evidence Gaps, and Guideline Recommendations. J Clin Med, 13(19). doi.org/10.3390/jcm13195668

Wang, Y. W., Xi, Z. W., Pu, B., Chen, G. Y., Ma, Y. F., Liu, D. L., & Xu, X. (2020). Gua sha therapy for chronic low back pain: A protocol for systematic review. Medicine (Baltimore), 99(40), e20606. doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000020606

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