Gua Sha, Cupping or IASTM: Clearing Up Household Mix-Ups

When a physio, a friend and a relative all use different words, scraping and suction therapies easily blur together. Here is how to keep them straight and ask the right questions.

Your physiotherapist mentions instrument-assisted work, your sister swears by cupping, and your father talks about scraping with a porcelain spoon. Around the dinner table it can sound as if everyone is describing the same thing. In reality the three differ: scraping, suction, and IASTM, whose letters stand for an instrument-assisted way of mobilising soft tissue, each rely on their own movements and their own way of reasoning.

Three methods, three explanations

With gua sha, a rounded-edge implement glides over skin according to traditional Chinese medicine ideas. Cupping applies suction through glass, silicone or other cups. IASTM is a technique used in some physiotherapy and manual therapy settings, with its own rationale. Mentioning all three in one breath does not make their research base, hazards or expected effects interchangeable.

Questions to ask before you begin

Of the three, only gua sha and cupping are offered by Dr Christine Shen, Acupuncturist, in her Freshwater clinic room. When you meet, it helps to ask:

• exactly which method is being proposed;
• what it will feel like, and for roughly how long;
• why this method suits your concern;
• how you can ask for it to stop at any moment.

Tell Christine whether firm pressure suits you and describe any skin reactions after comparable sessions.

Keeping everyone on the same page

If you see more than one practitioner, tell each of them what the others are doing. A physio and an acupuncturist working on the same shoulder will appreciate knowing about each other, and it avoids overloading one area of skin.

Names matter less than clarity

A tool's name counts for less than a plain description of the steps, the reason behind them and how your comfort will be guarded. Once you understand that, you can explain it at home too.

Next time the topic comes up at a family meal, you might be the person who gently sorts out the confusion, helping relatives ask their own practitioners clearer questions about what is being offered.