Manual Therapies
There are a handful (no pun...) of manual therapies in Eastern Medicine that focus on the body using the hands or a hand-held instrument. Manual therapies may be used on their own or combined with acupuncture for a synergistic benefit. The manual therapies I tend to use in my office are Cupping, Gua Sha & Tui-na.
Cupping therapy places special cups on the skin by means of suction using fire or a mechanical device. They are either kept stationary or gently moved over the skin to increase blood flow, detox the body and reduce pain & inflammation. It feels like an interesting massage that most people really enjoy! Cupping may also be used to treat respiratory conditions such as allergies, asthma, cough, cold & flu. Cupping may result in temporary petechiae, or pink/red or purple marks along the skin's surface. This is is an important feature for your practitioner as they can use it diagnostically. The deeper the color tells of the greater the stagnation in the body. It’s also possible to do a gentle facial cupping for facial rejuvenation where we would avoid creating a petechiae, or to cup areas on the limbs, but my favorite place to cup is the neck & shoulder areas and the back. I recommend cupping for anyone experiencing tension, tightness and musculoskeletal pain or as part of my detoxification program.
Gua Sha, the literal translation being "to scrape sand" which refers to the sand like marks after the treatment, is a type of friction therapy that uses a smooth edged tool to stimulate microcirculation of the soft tissue. This painless method involves a unidirectional press-stroking of a lubricated area of the body and may result in a temporary petechiae, or pink/red or purple marks along the skin's surface. This is is an important feature for your practitioner as they can use it diagnostically. The deeper the color the greater the stagnation in the body. Gua Sha is used to increase blood flow, reduces inflammation & pain and promotes healing. I use gua sha technique in my practice at the onset of a cold, to break a fever, relieve asthma or for tension and pain in the body.
Tui-na is a medical massage that means to "push" and "grasp." It combines manipulation of soft tissues, by applying various techniques such as brush, knead, roll, press, and rub to the acu-points and along the meridian systems. It is most used in the treatment of both acute and chronic musculoskeletal conditions to stimulate the flow of qi and promote healing within the body.