What if by massaging your face, could you get a smoother, firmer and more youthful appearance? Sounds like a really marvelous idea, isn’t it? Actually, facial gua sha therapies can really do that.
Pronounced “gwa sha,” gua sha therapy is an age-old traditional Chinese medicine practice that’s been used to cure illness and improve health. Now, is has been discovered that it can also be a way to refresh and beautify your face.
Promoters of gua sha facial massage believe that its effects can lessen breakouts and skin dryness, enhance definition and increase firmness to your skin.
What Is Gua Sha Massage?
This technique uses a flat-edged, small device to massage your skin. The device can come from a variety of smooth materials, such as rose quartz, jade or wood.
During a gua sha facial treatment, the device is massaged into the skin that leaves reddish and small bruises on the body which are all part of the therapy. Gua sha healers see these bruises as proof evidence of toxins in the body.
The procedure sounds a bit scary and painful but let me assure you that gua sha facial massage is a gentle and painless form of treatment tends.
When used on the body, the therapy is designed to do the following things:
- Alleviate muscle stiffness
- Remove irritation
- Increase the flow of blood
- Improve your immune system
In addition, there seems to be empirical proof that gua sha massage has some genuine, beneficial effect. In 2011, a study was done showing how people coping with neck pain experienced temporal relief in their symptoms.
And just recently last year, a study observed how elderly patients that exhibited lower back pain experienced a reduction in irritation and improved mobility and a decrease in irritation.
Gua Sha As An Appearance Enhancer
Compared to treatments done on the body, gua sha treatments performed on the face are much gentler. They actually never leave bruisings of any kind. The gua sha device isn’t massaged directly into the face. Rather, it’s swiped gently in long or short strokes across the skin surface. The strokes are administered in a certain pattern across the face to attain the desired outcomes.
Can Gua Sha Really Give You a Face a Lift?
So far, proof of the efficacy of gua sha facial massage is mostly anecdotal. Lots of people swear by the procedures that allowed them to achieve a more desired appearance, while lessening the amount of breakouts, enhancing skin hydration, and reducing puffiness around the eyes.
The reason people believe that gua sha facial massage can provide the skin with a fresher appearance is because the therapy helps drain excess amount of lymph fluid from the body. If there is a build up fluids within the body, skin conditions may appear. What is lymph? Lymph is a watery substance that is naturally produced by the body and it’s composed up of fats, proteins and white blood cells. Lymph fluid is a component of the lymphatic system, which contributes to immune function and helps eliminate waste and toxins from the body.
Gua sha facial massage therapists believe that the pressure applied during massage relaxes tension in the connective tissue and muscles. And once connective tissue and muscle tension is relieved, it promotes the outflow of excess lymph fluid from the body. This freeing of tension helps minimize the development of wrinkles and smoothen the skin. Both clients and therapists have stated that the skin appears smoother after a session of this therapy.
There is also scientific proof that gua sha facial massage increases the flow of blood to the bodily areas on where the treatments are administered. This blood flow boost is very beneficial to the skin. To stay in optimal condition your skin requires a constant supply of blood. Blood transports oxygen and nutrients to cells, and carries waste and toxins away from cells.
Relaxation Benefits
Massages are definitely relaxing, and when one relaxes their skin benefits as well. Stress can actually affect your DNA. DNA are molecular strands that make up your body’s cells. They are programs that tell your body how to develop, grow, and function. And at the tip of each DNS strand are insulated casings known as “telomeres.”
Each time a cell divides, some of its telomeres get lost. Your body can reproduce telomeres. But elevated stress hormones and long term chronic stress can hinder this process. And when the insulated telomeres aren’t replenished, it can result in irritation or the death of a cell and can also speed up the aging process.
So, this type of facial therapy may lead to certain obvious benefits to your appearance if you’re one of those folks who find facials and massages to be soothing and calming.
Obviously, it’s best to seek treatment from a licensed and experienced practitioner of Chinese medicine practitioner who knows what he’s doing. This practitioner can assess your skin, and –instructs you on the way to do the therapy yourself.
Massage Therapy to Boost Your Appearance
Gua sha facial massage therapies are still being tested. Meanwhile, you should consider giving this therapy a try – no one ever gets hurt with a bit of relaxation.
Harmony Wellness Center
110 N Orlando Ave
Maitland, FL 32751
(407) 234-6454
https://www.harmonywellnesscenter.com/