Why do we need to apply essential oils during scraping

Gua Sha has many benefits for the body. Generally, it is used with essential oils. Some people are confused about this. In fact, adding essential oils during scraping can help the main medicinal effects penetrate into the skin better, lubricate the skin, and prevent damage to the skin due to excessive force. At the same time, essential oils are also helpful to the body and can promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis. Therefore, it is very good to use essential oils during scraping.

Does scraping need to be combined with essential oils?

Gua Sha can be combined with essential oils.

The function of essential oil is to lubricate the skin, reduce the resistance of the scraping board to the skin during scraping, and make the skin less easily injured. Essential oils are volatile aromatic substances extracted from the flowers, leaves, stems, roots or fruits of plants through steam distillation, pressing, cold soaking or solvent extraction. Different essential oils have different effects. You can choose the effect you want to use with the essential oil. For example, if you want to lose weight, you can choose grapefruit essential oil, which is diuretic and promotes fat metabolism. If you just want to avoid skin injuries caused by friction, you don’t have to use essential oils. You can use lotion, olive oil, etc. instead.

What essential oils are good for scraping?

1. Rosemary essential oil

Extracted from flowers and leaves. Reduces skin congestion, edema, and swelling; tightens the skin and improves dandruff; relieves menstrual pain, promotes diuresis, and helps lose weight; is beneficial to the gastrointestinal tract, heart, lungs, liver, and gallbladder; acts as a cardiotonic, lowers blood pressure, and regulates anemia; refreshes the mind, wakes up the brain, and restores central nervous system vitality. Pregnant women are prohibited from using it; patients with hypertension or epilepsy are prohibited from using it.

2. Lavender essential oil

Extracted from flowers. Suitable for all skin, treats burns and sunburn, promotes cell regeneration, balances sebum secretion; improves acne, abscesses, eczema; prevents baldness; kills bacteria and deworms, clears the liver and spleen, promotes gastrointestinal function, stops vomiting, improves physiological problems; improves bronchitis, asthma, laryngitis; stabilizes emotions, resists depression, lowers blood pressure, and treats insomnia. Pregnant women and people with low blood pressure are prohibited.

3. Sweet orange essential oil

Extracted from the peel. Sweet orange is one of the few essential oils that has been proven to have a calming effect. Sweet orange essential oil, with its sweet orange scent, can dispel tension and stress, and improve insomnia caused by anxiety. Since orange peel contains a large amount of vitamin C, it can prevent colds, moisturize the skin, balance the skin's acidity and saltiness, help collagen formation, and has a good effect on the growth and repair of body tissues. It can promote sweating, thus helping to expel toxins from blocked skin and is helpful for people with oily, acne-prone or dry skin. Sweet orange essential oil can cause photosensitivity, so avoid exposing your skin to direct sunlight after use.

4. Tea tree essential oil

Extracted from leaves. Purifies skin, eliminates chickenpox, herpes, suppuration of wounds, warts, sores, burns, sunburn; best acne skin treatment agent; improves ringworm, athlete's foot, dandruff; best antibiotic, anti-cold, antibacterial, antiviral agent, can treat sexually transmitted diseases; enhances immunity; fights fungal and genital infections, itching; repels insects and fleas; refreshes the mind, rejuvenates, fights depression; is prohibited for use on sensitive skin areas.

5. Lemon essential oil

Extracted from the peel. Improve oily skin, brighten skin, whiten and purify skin, improve broken capillaries, remove dead cells, remove corns and flat warts; promote blood circulation, reduce varicose veins; lower blood pressure, improve anemia; relieve headaches, gout and arthritis; resist infection, colds and hair loss; aid digestion and clarify thoughts. It has photosensitizing effect, so avoid prolonged exposure to sunlight after use.

Precautions when scraping

1. Choose the right tools

Generally speaking, anything with blunt and smooth edges will do, such as a comb, porcelain spoon, or scraping board (the material also has to be particular). But you should pay attention to the thickness and size. If it is too thick, no sha can be scraped out, and if it is too thin, it may hurt the skin easily. The size should generally be smaller than an adult's palm so that it is easy to grasp and apply force.

2. Scraping Angle

Hold the scraping board in your hand, with the thick side against the palm and the thin side at a 45-degree angle to the skin. Scrape lightly in one direction without pushing or cutting. If you want to stimulate deep inside, press down vertically at a 90-degree angle to the skin, but do not do it for too long.

3. Frequency

The frequency of scraping varies according to the needs and physical condition of the patient, and twenty to thirty minutes of scraping each time is appropriate. The first scraping should not be too long and the technique should not be too heavy. The second scraping should be done one to two weeks later.

4. Do not scrape if the skin is damaged

People with highly allergic skin or skin diseases, such as broken skin, ulcers, or unhealed wounds, such as acne, sores, skin ulcers, or infectious skin diseases, should not scrape the wound to avoid enlarging the wound or causing infection. People with trauma or fractures are also prohibited from scraping.

5. Drink a cup of hot water after scraping

Gua Sha treatment can make the body sweat and expel evil spirits, which will consume some of the body's fluids. Drinking a cup of hot water after scraping can not only replenish the consumed part, but also promote metabolism and accelerate the excretion of metabolic products.

6. Bathing time after scraping

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. However, during bathing, scraping can be done before the water stains have dried. Because the pores are slightly open during bathing, scraping takes less time and has a significant effect, but you should pay attention to keeping warm.

Gua Sha is a traditional Chinese medicine health therapy. Many people practice scraping in their daily lives. Does scraping need to be combined with essential oils? What essential oils are good for scraping? Let's take a look with the editor below.

Who can't do scraping?

1. Pregnant women are not suitable for scraping, especially the abdomen and lumbar area.

2. Patients with diseases that cause bleeding tendency, such as leukemia and hemorrhage, should be scraped with caution.

3. People with highly allergic skin or skin diseases are prohibited from scraping.

4. People who are chronically ill, elderly, extremely weak, or emaciated should shave with caution.

5. People who are drunk, too hungry, too full, too thirsty, or too tired are prohibited from scraping.