Gua Sha: A Complete Self-treatment Guide

by Clive Witham

Gua sha is a simple, effective scraping technique used for centuries in the Far East for maintaining health and helping to prevent and combat ailments such as headaches, colds, neck and shoulder pain, anxiety, backache, insomnia and depression.

This definitive guide, by a leading acupuncturist and health educator, takes you step by step through everything you need to do to treat yourself and others both safely and securely within a holistic vision of health and well-being. It includes anatomical information, key points and channels in Oriental medicine and clearly explained techniques for treating your whole body from head to toe, including facial Gua sha.

Packed with accessible information and fully illustrated, anyone with an interest in their own health and wellbeing, whether you are just curious or a professional, can benefit from this essential guide.

“A very comprehensive, clearly laid out and written book which is ideal for beginners as well as practitioners, offering simple step by step practical treatments for common conditions. Excellent value.” Yoga & Health Magazine

200 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2015

About the author

Clive Witham LAc MSc OMBAcC is a British licensed acupuncturist and health educator in a small Spanish enclave in North Africa. He has been treating patients for 18 years, 10 of those in his medical clinic in Africa, where he treats people from diversely different cultures, languages and religions. He has authored three books on Oriental medicine which have been published in English, Spanish, French, Italian and Polish and also regularly edits a tourist guidebook in Japan.

Reviews

[Ebony]

I understand the irony of reading a Gua Sha manual written by a white guy, but I wanted a quick and easy primer. That’s definitely what I got in the first few chapters. His introduction to the history and purpose of Gua Sha is accessible. The back half are body meridians and different usage methods for each part of the body. I was hoping for something more specific like, if you have X then do Y. It’s buried under each body part, but not super accessible. Also, the Kindle version doesn’t have all the body codes on the images so you can’t always see what goes with what. Buy a hard copy if you want the full benefits. I’m not mad I read it, but I definitely want more on the self-practices for certain conditions, but maybe in this day and age the book is not the medium for that. I should find a TCM practitioner on Instagram.

[Mary A. Cheng · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very clear and understandable.

I really got a lot of information from this book. It was so clear in instructions and explanations. Lots of great information that was very clear.

[Robin Pennell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good. Works. Easy to understand.

[Paulina · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is a guide like the title says. For me too much personal stories, facts and opinion mixed which made me confused. I hope for more science

[Doreen Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated and very well researched. This manual is comprehensive in describing the history of gua sha and how it works, but also provides detailed instruction how anyone may use the techniques either for self healing or for improving the health of family and friends. Soon to become a trusted source for both the lay person and anyone in the healing arts such as massage therapists, physiotherapist and Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners alike.