07/30/2026
This could be a 50 part series but let’s start with the basics of setting the record straight on gua sha.
1. Capitalism and exploitative wellness culture will try to sell you on expensive gua sha boards but gua sha was actually traditionally performed with Chinese soup spoons, coins, and even animal horns. You can use anything that has both a round and flat surface to scrape with prices ranging from free to $100 and I promise you will see the same results.
2. The main mechanism of gua sha has nothing to do with the lymphs, gua sha moves Qi & Blood flow to prevent stagnation. Therefore, direction does not matter. You can scrape up or down.
3. Chinese medicine is here for the slow burn, longevity doesn’t come over night or in a 10 minute routine, so when you gua sha your face and delicate skin, be gentle and soft and build slowly. If you’re gua sha-ing on the body for body pain, be careful not to scrape so hard to cause broken capilaries, bruising, or breaking the skin barrier.
4. Gua Sha is a modern wellness self care practice. The first documented mentioning of gua sha in TCM classical texts dates back to the 1st century BCE. Period. Before the discovery of lymphs, before it became trendy, and even before modern medicine.
5. Gua Sha will NOT “snatch” your jaw line, the only thing that done got snatched is the cultural appropriation of gua sha. Gua sha will not change your bone structure or provide permanent results. At best it softens muscular tension in the face, lifts, and depuffs by moving stagnation and keeping Qi & Blood flowing.
