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You've probably seen the videos: Influencers use facial gua sha to shrink double chins or chisel cheekbones. But long before gua sha was Instagram fodder, it was a traditional East and Southeast Asian healing technique. Originally, a smooth "board" was pressed along the skin of the body; more recently, it's been adapted for the face and neck too. The light pressure applied during gua sha is supposed to release muscular tension and help with lymphatic drainage to depuff.
You can find gua sha tools in the practices of acupuncturists, wellness centers, spas, and the aisles of Walmart. At Lanshin, owned by Sandra Chiu, a facial gua sha treatment lasts 75 glorious minutes — at minimum. Her wellness center, which sits two blocks from a major expressway and next to a bustling coffee shop, serves as a beacon of calm for Williamsburg in Brooklyn.
I chose Chiu, a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioner, to guide my experience with facial gua sha because of her efforts to educate the public on the roots of the practice. "I am working hard to put the TCM back in gua sha," she says. "Without accurate representation of this technique, it becomes known as a trendy beauty hack rather than a profound healing technique with a history that goes back centuries."
I sought to have facial gua sha the way it was intended, through Chiu and other TCM practitioners who are connected to the practice by their culture and way of life. Here, learn more about my experience.
Gua sha's roots aren't just in lymphatic drainage and lymphatic circulation. Its origins are also in "improving blood and qi (energy) circulation," says Chiu. The principles of qi and the body’s meridians, which carry qi throughout the body, are actually "the core of the gua sha practice for improving well-being," says Ada Ooi, a certified auricular acupuncturist (a form of acupuncture that focuses on the ears) and traditional Chinese medicine practitioner based in London.
Gua sha translates to "scraping" and was originally intended as a way to help alleviate aches, pains, and other ailments. Facial gua sha is an extension of that practice, Chiu explains. “While gua sha is more aggressive,” she notes, "facial gua sha uses a much slower speed and softer touch."
I laid on Chiu's treatment table, surrounded by jade, rose quartz, and obsidian gua sha stones of different sizes, electroacupuncture tools, and bottles of serums. I told her that I hoped to depuff and define the contours of my face.
"Are you feeling any pain?" she asked before beginning the treatment, to which I responded that I'd been feeling tension in my neck. She suggested we combine the gua sha I'd come in for with cupping and acupuncture, and I agreed.
A treatment room at the Lanshin wellness center
Acupuncture is the practice of using needles to help realign qi and promote healing. The needles pierce the skin, in very specific places, up to one inch deep. It sounds painful, but it wasn't. As Chiu placed multiple needles along my neck, I felt only the two she'd placed on my trapezius muscles (on my back), which prompted a response from my body that felt like a wave traveling from the area down to my toes.
The next phase of my treatment involved cupping, which is intended to promote blood flow and the movement of lymphatic fluid. This was probably the most intense portion of the entire experience, as Chiu squeezed each cup tightly to create strong suction, and moved it along my neck. But by the end of the cupping process, which lasted only a few minutes, my neck actually felt less tense.
Chiu used the bulk of our appointment to apply gua sha along my face and neck. She used stones of various shapes, which she placed on a tray next to my bed. The different stone shapes enabled her to better fit the varied surfaces and contours on my face. Along my jawline, for example, she used one with a more narrow divot, which fit perfectly as she pulled it across my jaw.
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Chiu always moved her tools in an upward motion, sweeping with long and short strokes, using different levels of pressure. There was a rhythm to how she moved the stones that was so calming, I felt like I was falling into a trancelike state. (I would have completely dozed off had I not been chatting with Chiu.) As she worked up my neck, the lower third of my face, and forehead, she used a lighter hand; along the curves of my jawline and cheekbones, she used medium pressure. It was never painful, but my cheeks did feel warm (as they do when blood rushes to them when blushing) with her repeated kneading.
Board-certified dermatologist Neda Mehr, MD, has previously told Allure that gua sha helps decrease puffiness through lymphatic drainage. I found this to be true to an extent, but my visible results were subtle.
In the above images, you can see what my face and neck looked like immediately before and after my gua sha treatment. (The bruises make the cupping portion of the treatment seem brutal, but again, it was intense for only a few minutes, at most.) If you look closely at my chin and cheeks, you can see the areas were ever-so-slightly lifted. "Gua sha moves the fluid similar to a lymphatic massage," says Dhaval Bhanusali, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City. But he adds that it's important to set realistic expectations. "Know that this effect isn't permanent."
You may also notice that my double chin did not disappear. A reminder: Double chins are totally normal. They may appear due to a lack of healthy diet or exercise, while some people have a genetic disposition for it (*raises hand*). The point: Gua sha is not enough to get rid of your double chin.
The day after my gua sha treatment, I put on makeup. While taking a selfie in the car, I noticed my jawline did look more defined. My face was depuffed, ever-so-slightly lifted, and glowing. My skin looked great. Overall, I felt great.
With gua sha’s social media boom, the question of whether or not it is being appropriated has come up among TCM practitioners. "In some ways, I do feel that gua sha is being appropriated," says Stephanie Zheng, esthetician and founder of Mount Lai, a line of gua sha tools. “A lot of wellness and beauty practices, like gua sha, are rooted in culture and heritage. Because gua sha has grown in popularity, we’re seeing many brands launch gua sha products of their own without having a tie to the practice.” She adds, "It's important to understand the origins in order to celebrate the roots and the rich history that these practices come from, rather than just treating it like a 'popular trend.'"
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Zheng and the rest of our experts expressed excitement about the visibility social media has brought to traditional Chinese medicine, but there are concerns with the spread of misinformation about the technique. Below are some of the common gua sha myths the experts I spoke with want to debunk.
Want to try gua sha for yourself? Consider supporting these gua sha brands that were founded and built on TCM roots and traditions.
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