Fun with Gua Sha

Well let me just say that the Thai massage place somewhat shocked me Friday night. The few times I've been there the massages have been great.  Last time the woman was a little rough but I initially thought that the girl doing it this time would be gentle and I'd be in for a completely relaxing massage.

Wrong!

While much of it was great, she used a new massage technique that somewhat freaked me out and was painful.  I don't care what the websites say, it is painful having your back forcefully combed.  I found out today that it is called Gua Sha 刮痧.


She used oil so it was tolerable but at a couple of points I felt the plastic tool scraping against my bone and muscle and couldn't help but tense up.   Still, I have to say that I believe it does work.  That night and all day Saturday I felt feverish and I do believe it was helping clear toxins out of my system.  Would I do it again?  Probably not.   But I'm open to trying.  I thought that techniques such as this were done solely by TCM practitioners but apparently I was wrong.  Ahh well.  Another experience!

A picture of my back after the treatment: