gua sha

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A treatment used in traditional Chinese medicine involving repeated pressured strokes over the skin with a hard object thereby breaking surface capillaries and leaving light bruising, claimed to release unhealthy bodily matter.

Pronunciation

/ɡwɑ ˈʃɑ/

Word forms

gua sha

Etymology

Borrowed from Mandarin 刮痧 (guāshā, literally “scrape sand”).

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