Should I do scraping first or moxibustion first?

Gua Sha and moxibustion are both traditional Chinese medicine health therapies that have many benefits for health and can treat many diseases. However, some people in life choose to do scraping and moxibustion successively, thinking that this is more conducive to detoxification. In fact, the order of scraping and moxibustion should be determined according to personal constitution and the condition of the disease to be treated, so as not to affect your health.

Generally, the order of scraping and moxibustion is determined according to physical condition.

1. Patients with excess syndrome: Moxibustion is not suitable after scraping. Generally speaking, patients with excess syndrome should not be treated with moxibustion after scraping, because the skin is very fragile after scraping and easily breaks, and the skin will be slightly less sensitive to heat. Moxibustion has a tonic effect, and tonic for patients with excess syndrome will only add fuel to the fire, so moxibustion is not recommended.

2. Those with cold symptoms and weak constitution: scraping first and then moxibustion. For those with cold symptoms and weak constitution, the use of scraping combined with moxibustion can have miraculous effects. It can warm the meridians and dispel cold, promote qi and dredge the collaterals, support yang and consolidate deficiency, raise yang and lift the sunken, release heat and draw out toxins, eliminate blood stasis and disperse stagnation, and prevent diseases and maintain health.

3. People with weak constitution: moxibustion first and then scraping. For people with weak constitution, it is more appropriate to use moxibustion to replenish yang energy, mobilize the circulation of qi and blood, and enhance personal constitution before using scraping. Please note that scraping and moxibustion have their own strengths and weaknesses in treating symptoms. Therefore, whether to scrape or moxibustion first depends on the different diseases and physical constitutions of each person. It is recommended to choose an experienced Chinese medicine practitioner to diagnose the disease first and then determine whether scraping and moxibustion are suitable.

Should I do scraping or moxibustion first to eliminate dampness and cold?

To remove dampness and cold, it is recommended to use cupping first and then moxibustion. Generally speaking, cupping is mainly used to remove dampness, moxibustion is mainly used to remove cold, and scraping is mainly used to promote blood circulation. Therefore, if you want to remove dampness and cold, you might as well cupping first and then moxibustion. Cupping stimulates the meridian acupoints or pain points, which can allow the wind, cold and dampness around the pain points to accumulate in one place. At this time, if you use moxibustion to warm and unblock the pain, it can effectively expel the evil spirits from the pain point.

The advantages and disadvantages of scraping

1. Benefits

(1) Promote metabolic excretion. The human body is constantly carrying out metabolic activities every day, and the waste produced during the metabolism must be excreted in a timely manner. Gua Sha can promptly scrape away metabolic "garbage" from the body to the surface of the body and deposit it into the pores under the skin, thereby unblocking blood flow in the body and restoring natural metabolic vitality.

(2) Relax muscles and tendons. Nowadays, more and more people are suffering from cervical spondylosis, periarthritis of the shoulder, and low back pain. This is because when the body's "soft tissue" (joint capsule, ligament, fascia) is damaged, the muscles will be in a state of tension, contraction or even spasm, and symptoms of pain will appear. If not treated in time, people will form varying degrees of adhesion, fibrosis or scarring, thereby aggravating the condition. Gua Sha can relax muscles and tendons, eliminate painful lesions, and relieve muscle tension. While significantly alleviating pain symptoms, it is also beneficial to the recovery of lesions.

(3) Adjusting Yin and Yang: “When Yin and Yang are balanced, the spirit will be in good health.” Traditional Chinese medicine places great emphasis on the balance of the body's yin and yang relationship. Gua Sha has a two-way regulating effect on human body functions. It can improve and adjust the functions of internal organs and restore their balance.

2. Disadvantages The disadvantages of scraping are usually caused by not paying attention to the contraindications and improper operation.

(1) Frequent scraping without restraint will cause damage to the skin tissue. It will not only fail to help relieve fatigue, but will also increase the burden on the body.

(2) For people with weak Qi and blood, scraping will consume Qi. Frequent scraping will lead to lack of energy, fatigue, dizziness, etc., making the body worse.

(3) For people with skin ulcers or other skin diseases, scraping is not a pleasure at all, but a torture. It will cause greater damage to the already fragile skin tissue and even cause infection, worsening the condition.

(4) For people with blood diseases, or those with heart or liver problems, scraping should be avoided as it can easily cause greater harm to the body.

Precautions for scraping

1. Precautions before scraping

1. Gua Sha therapy requires exposing the skin, and the sweat pores of the skin will open during scraping. If encountering wind and cold evil, the evil qi can directly enter the body through the opened pores, affecting the efficacy of scraping and easily causing new diseases. Therefore, before scraping, you should choose a good treatment place with fresh air circulation, and pay attention to keeping warm and avoiding wind. Do not scrape in a place with drafts in summer. Expose as little skin as possible.

2. Choose a comfortable scraping position to facilitate scraping and prevent dizziness.

3. Gua Sha tools must be strictly disinfected to prevent cross infection. Before scraping, you must carefully check the scraping tools to avoid scratching the skin.

4. The hands of the practitioner should also be disinfected.

5. Before scraping, be sure to explain the general knowledge of scraping to the patient, eliminate his or her fear, and obtain the patient's cooperation to avoid dizziness.

6. Do not perform scraping treatment when the patient is too hungry, too full or too nervous. 2. Precautions during scraping: 1. Scrape with even force, to the extent that you can tolerate, until sha appears. 2. For infants, young children and the elderly, scraping should be done with gentle force.

3. Do not blindly pursue the appearance of scraping by using heavy techniques or prolonging the scraping time. The amount of sha is affected by many factors. Generally speaking, people with blood stasis are more likely to get sha; people with excess syndrome and heat syndrome are more likely to get sha; people with deficiency syndrome and cold syndrome are less likely to get sha; people who take too many medicines, especially hormone drugs, are less likely to get sha; obese people and people with plump muscles are less likely to get sha; yin meridians are less likely to get sha than yang meridians; and sha is less likely to get when the room temperature is low.

4. During the scraping process, always ask the patient about his/her feelings. If you experience dizziness, fatigue, lightheadedness, pale complexion, nausea, cold sweats, palpitations, cold limbs, or low blood pressure or coma, stop scraping immediately. Comfort the patient and tell him/her not to be nervous, help him/her lie flat, keep him/her warm, and let him/her drink warm water or sugar water. If the symptoms are still not relieved, you can use the corner of a scraping board to press the Shui Gou acupoint. Use light force to avoid edema after applying gravity. Apply scraping method to Baihui point and Yongquan point. After the patient's condition improves, continue scraping the Neiguan and Zusanli points.

3. Precautions after scraping

1. Gua Sha therapy opens sweat pores and expels evil spirits, which consumes some of the body's body fluids. Therefore, drink a cup of warm water after scraping and rest for a while.

2. After scraping treatment, in order to avoid the invasion of wind and cold, you must wait until the skin pores close and return to their original state before taking a bath, which usually takes about 3 hours.

3. For some patients with complex and critical conditions, in addition to scraping treatment, other therapies, such as drug treatment, should be used in combination to avoid delaying the disease.