acupuncture

WHAT IS FACIAL GUA SHA?

Gua Sha is a traditional East Asian practice that translates in english to “scrape away pain”. Facial gua sha is an adaptation of body gua sha where you use a healing crystal gemstone to gently improve lymphatic drainage, improve circulation and break up stuck fascia. It is a beautifying and relaxing ritual that you can do at home on the face, neck, shoulders and décolleté.

 

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF FACIAL GUA SHA?

​

1. CALMING RITUAL

Gua Sha is extremely calming. Whether you are having it done by a profession or doing it yourself, gua sha is a gentle whisper to calm our sympathetic system. helps connect our body and mind to calm. When we are calm we are better able to process our emotions. Using gua sha to tune into our bodies we can benefit from relieving stress and grounding ourselves. The more frequently we practise this ritual the better the results.

​

2. MUSCULAR TENSION RELIEF

With so many of use sitting at desks or dealing with stress we are often holding that tension in our faces, necks and shoulders. Using a tool to get into the knotted areas can massively release muscular tension. This is great if you suffer from TMJ, headaches or migraine. Relaxing with a gua sha ritual can help minimise the appearance of light expression lines and prevent them becoming deeper. I think that we can sometimes get in a rut. Our brains are like super computers that can get hardwired into a stress zone, we see everything negatively and gua sha can help break this negative emotional state. We can see on people who repeatedly frown or wince they have developed habits that may be causing wrinkles. I personal love using a gua sha with a fascia comb to help break up these lines on clients. Just experiencing our facing moving and being touched in a different way can help us to feel better and look better, avoiding falling back into these bad habits.

​

3. LYMPHATIC DETOXIFICATION

Gua Sha helps the movement of blood and lymph (Xue – in Mandarin). Breaking up stagnation and clearing blockages in our channels. For Chi (life force) and blood to flow freely we need free flow of lymph. This manual movement of the Xue helps our body to process and eliminate toxins.

​

4. NATURAL FACELIFT

Gua Sha stones help to lift, sculpt and tighten our skin. Regular use can prevent the signs of aging such as: sagging, dull and wrinkled skin. It oxygenates and carries nutrients to the skin. The increased blood flow resulting from Gua Sha contributes to a more vibrant, plumped up and youthful appearance.

​

5. IMPROVED PRODUCT PENETRATION

Always use a medium. The action of gently scraping the Gua Sha tool across the skin aids in serum/moisturizer product penetration, so those juicy nutrients go deeper into the layers of skin to feed us even more hydration. Gua Sha can also be used to prevent and clear acne, decongesting the skin and reducing inflammation.