Gua Sha: How to use a Gua Sha tool for facial massage, does it work and are there any benefits?

• Gua Sha is a traditional Chinese healing technique that involves scraping your skin with a smooth edged tool.
• It has grown popular with beauty influencers with over 160,000 tutorials on TikTok alone.

Gua Sha is the latest skincare trend to be taking over social media. The method which is based on the traditional Chinese medicine technique, involves scraping your face with a smoothed edged tool to reduce inflammation and improve circulation,

The technique was traditionally used on areas of the body such as your arms, legs or back, but with over 160,000 facial tutorials on TikTok alone, it is fast becoming a staple in many people’s beauty routines.

Beauty influencers claim that using the tool for facial massage can help de-puff and re-sculpt your face. So, what are the benefits of Gua Sha and does it really work? Here is everything you need to know.

Gua sha has became a popular beauty trend. | Pexels, Arina Krasnikova

What is Gua Sha?

Gua Sha is a traditional Chinese medicine technique that involves scraping your skin with a smooth-edged tool to help improve circulation and reduce inflammation. It is usually performed on the back, arms and legs, however using it for your face and neck has been growing in popularity thanks to people sharing their experiences on social media.

Some Gua Sha tools are made from polished stones such as rose quartz or jade, they are available in all shapes and sizes, but each tool will have a double edged curved shape at the top, almost like a squashed or titled heart.

The double edged curved shape can be used to gently scrape your eyebrows, jaw and throat, whilst the longer lined side focuses on areas such as your cheekbones and forehead.

How to use a Gua Sha tool for facial massage?

There are plenty of tutorials on how to do a Gua Sha face massage at home on social media or YouTube, you can also opt to get a Gua Sha massage from a professional.

If you decide to give it a go yourself, firstly make sure you have washed your tool, your hands and have applied facial oil to your skin so that the tool will smoothly glide over.

Neck

Start off your massage at your neck, use your tool and make smooth strokes upwards from your collarbone to your earlobe, repeat this five times on each side.

Chin

The next step is your chin, put the double edged, or heart side of your Gua Sha at the centre of chin and move it along your jawline to your ear, again repeat five times on each side.

Cheekbones

Now we move onto the cheekbones, slowly drag the long edge of your tool across your cheekbone to your ear, repeat on both sides.

Eyes

Now for your under eyes, gently slide your tool outward towards your ear moving smoothly and in a straight line, remember to do both sides. For the eyebrows, start in the middle and gently drag the curved side of your tool outward until you reach your hairline, after repeating on the other side, move to the forehead where you firmly press the edge of your tool from the top of your eyebrow to the top of your forehead, repeating on both sides.

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Are there any benefits?

Scientific studies on the effectiveness of Gua Sha are limited and more research is needed. The traditional healing method has been around for thousands of years and is said to help promote circulation, reduce inflammation and relieve tightness and pain.

Are there any side effects?

Side effects from using a Gua Sha can include skin bruising and breakage, although these are often temporary. It’s also important to clean your tool after each use to prevent skin infections.

If you have diabetes, issues with circulation, take blood thinning medication or are pregnant, WebMD advises speaking to your doctor before trying Gua Sha.

We’d love to hear from you, have you tried a Gua Sha tool and noticed a difference? Share your experience in the comment section.