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Since at least several hundred years B.C., people in Greece, India, China, and elsewhere have used a technique of applying friction to the skin in order to resolve pain and treat deeper medical disorders, and it’s recently attracted the attention of mainstream medicine. The Greeks called it “frictioning.” The Chinese call it Gua Sha.
The technique involves using the hands, a piece of coarse cloth, or, more commonly, a ceramic spoon, a coin, a dull, thick blade, or the edge of a jar lid, to repeatedly stroke the skin until it becomes red. Nearly everyone in China (and much of greater East Asia) is familiar with Gua Sha, and parents routinely perform it on their children for colds and flus. Practitioners of Chinese medicine usually employ it to treat communicable diseases, conditions of internal toxicity, and to release tight tissues to alleviate pain and stiffness. Gua sha also has an extensive history of successfully treating cholera, a form of epidemic diarrhea.
When you receive Gua Sha, the practitioner usually oils your skin first, and then begins stroking the treatment area repeatedly with the blunt edge of their tool (I like a ceramic spoon or piece of water buffalo horn best). Often, dots begin to appear under the skin, ranging from bright red to deep purple, and with continued stroking, they multiply and fill in the area, until the whole region develops a diffuse bruise-like look. Actually, the marks left by Gua Sha have caused some problems in the U.S., where teachers who are unfamiliar with the technique have noticed the marks on some of their Asian students and alerted authorities of suspected child abuse!
To look at it, someone might think you were tortured, but it’s not a painful process. Many people enjoy the sensation, though it can occasionally feel a bit tickly or mildly sore. The marks disappear within a few days. When these dots arise quickly, and especially when they’re dark in color, we consider this to indicate poor circulation and/or a build-up of toxins in the area, which is a sign that the treatment was needed and should produce an improvement in health and a loosening of the muscles.
Frictioning techniques were initially understood by the Greeks as counteracting an existing condition – shifting the body’s attention by causing irritation (called “counter-irritation”) or a healing crisis elsewhere in the body. The minor trauma the technique caused was thought to elicit a broader healing response by the body, which would frequently resolve whatever other issue a person was grappling with.
The Chinese understand the technique as releasing something (pathogenic factors, such cold, dampness, stagnant blood, and toxins) through the surface of the body, and invigorating local circulation. Gua means “to scrape or scratch.” Sha means a sickness or evil that is retained in the body and also the rash-like expression when Gua Sha is performed. That is, Gua Sha is the process of intentionally bringing Sha to the surface. Other terms, such as Pak Sha (“pak” means “to slap”) and Xian Sha (“xian” means “to pinch”), describe different ways of eliciting Sha.
It has been said that, “Gua Sha is to an Asian family what chicken soup is to a family in the West.” Because this practice is so ubiquitous, and so humble, it’s especially funny that opportunists in the West have reframed this method as a brand new, cutting edge medical technique, dubbing it the Graston Technique and Astym (among other monikers). What’s more, I know people who have paid large sums to receive these techniques, under the impression that they are culmination of modern Western scientific research.
For instance, the Astym website features the question, “Can’t I just do this myself?” and the response: “You can only get the results ASTYM treatment delivers from a certified ASTYM therapist…. The ASTYM system’s outstanding results can not be achieved by picking up something you have at home and rubbing it along your skin. If this worked, there wouldn’t have been any need to spend years on the research and development process.” Millions of acupuncturists and Chinese lay people would beg to differ!
Don’t get me wrong. I do think it’s worth paying a trained medical professional to help you deal with your pain. And while I’ve never received The Graston Technique or Astym from a professional, I wouldn’t be surprised if they work – because I know Gua Sha works. My purpose is not to disparage these Western spin-offs, but to illuminate the true historical context and persistence of this technique. Medicines don’t usually stick around for over 2000 years if they don’t work! If you’re interested in learning more, ask an acupuncturist, or check out the authoritative book on the subject by my colleague Arya Neilsen, called simply Gua Sha.
Be well,
Dr. Peter Borten
[post_title] => The Amazing New Technique … That’s Been Sweeping the World for the Past 2000 Years
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Yesterday was the 4th of July, which, for those of you who aren’t from the U.S., was the day we declared our independence from England 240 years ago. Our Declaration of Independence is one of those historical documents you learn about repeatedly in school but probably never dissected or deeply understood. That was the case for me, anyway.
Until yesterday, that is, when I decided to give it the close read it deserves. Luckily, the primary author, Thomas Jefferson, was an excellent writer and a wise man. He slipped a few phrases in there that show the real depth of his understanding of what humans need and how they operate. The one that stood out to me the most was this:
“. . . all experience hath shown [actually, he wrote ‘shewn’], that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”
Simply put, as long as we can tolerate it, humans are more inclined to suffer than to fix things by ending a situation we’ve gotten used to.
I’m sure you can think of many examples of this truth – from bad smells to bad relationships.
Usually, the impetus to “abolish a form to which we are accustomed” is that the evils are no longer sufferable. That is, it’s gotten so bad we simply can’t endure it anymore. Until then, we anticipate that abolishing or changing the situation is going to be more difficult or uncomfortable than continuing to tolerate something that undermines our peace and happiness.
Finally, we call someone up who figures out where the smell is coming from, cuts a hole in the wall, removes the dead rat, and patches the wall. And when they leave we say, “I wish I had done that a long time ago.”
So, here’s the thing. Whether or not you think the United States is better off independent of the Kingdom of England, I want to encourage you to think a little about independence.
Not that “I have to do it all by myself and I want sole credit” brand of independence which pushes us apart. I mean the independence to act on behalf of your soul – and your Life, your Liberty, and your Pursuit of Happiness – regardless of the “forms to which you are accustomed.” But you don’t need to justify your action by waiting until the “evils” can no longer be suffered.
You can act NOW.
Act now.
Love,
Dr. Peter Borten
[post_title] => Real Independence
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Last week, I wrote about “cleansing” and who it might be appropriate for. We established that it’s often difficult to know whether your symptoms are the result of depletion (being worn out or deficient in some manner) or accumulation (carrying around something “extra” – infection, phlegm, inflammation, toxins, etc.), and that cleansing doesn’t really make sense for a person in the former category. If you’re depleted and you do a demanding cleanse, you’re quite likely to feel worse.
I can’t effectively help you (through an article) to determine whether you’re a good candidate for a cleanse, but I can share my opinion on a few forms of cleansing, and give you a few cleansing options that are gentle enough to be appropriate for almost everyone.
Fasting is the oldest form of cleansing. It is the deliberate reduction or abstinence from some or all food and drink. Fasts range from the very gentle (for example, avoidance of sugar and processed foods) to the very intense (for example, no food or drink for a prolonged period). I believe there’s no good reason to avoid water as part of a fast, so the most intense that a fast should ever be is the total avoidance of food, but as much water as you want. (Water avoidance just impairs the effectiveness of the fast by dehydrating you and slowing eliminatory mechanisms.)
I was taught that the longer the duration of a fast and the more lacking it is in basic nutrition, the greater the risk of its eventually causing depletion. However, the depletion caused by such a fast is considered by some practitioners in certain circumstances to be an acceptable price to pay for the elimination of an accumulation that wouldn’t have otherwise left the body.
Many fasting advocates believe that a more complete fast should involve a “fasting” from activity – allowing the body and mind to rest so that all of your energy can be devoted to elimination. Whether you choose to abide by this advice or to continue with your routine as usual, if your body tells you it’s exhausted, you’d do well to curtail your activity.
My feeling is that unless you’re pregnant, nursing, or severely depleted to begin with, fasting is usually harmless – if not beneficial. The depletion it causes is usually quickly reversible when we resume healthy eating, and the digestive mechanisms are often restored to greater effectiveness.
However, it’s always a good idea to start gentle. A mild fast might consist of simply avoiding the most commonly problematic foods, such as wheat, corn, dairy, eggs, and soy. If you want to take it further, you could also eliminate alcohol, coffee, yeast, all grains, beans, nuts, sugars, nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, and peppers), meat, processed foods, and commercial salt. To take it another step further, you could consume only liquids (broths, juices, and water), to make it easier for the digestive organs to process. If you regularly experience digestive upset, you can also eliminate all high-FODMAP foods. FODMAPs are fermentable sugars, which include those in most fruits, honey, corn syrup, milk, wheat, beans, garlic, and onions (search for FODMAPs online for a more complete list).
Gradually, you can try fasting on a smaller range of foods or liquids and increasing the duration of the fast for a more challenging and effective “reboot.” There’s an increasing body of research indicating health benefits from short-term fasting (on only water). For instance, a recent study - Prolonged Nightly Fasting and Breast Cancer Prognosis – showed that overnight fasting of more than 13 hours reduced the recurrence of breast cancer. This form of “intermittent fasting” may also improve the body’s sensitivity to insulin (improving type 2 diabetes), lower blood triglycerides, reduce inflammation, improve human growth hormone production, and normalize hunger signals.
In honor of all the new green growth around us, consider trying a fast of a day (or more) on Bieler Broth – a green “soup” developed by Dr. Henry Bieler. There are a few variations on this recipe (you can find them online), so here’s the most common one:
Ingredients (ideally, organic):
- 3-4 medium zucchinis, chopped
- 1 pound of string beans, ends trimmed
- 2 stalks of celery, chopped
- 2 bunches of parsley, stems removed and leaves chopped
Directions:
- Place all the ingredients into a large soup pot and cover with enough water to thoroughly submerge them.
- Bring it to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer. Simmer until tender with a fork (no longer than 30 minutes). Don’t overcook.
- Transfer all the liquid and vegetables to a blend and puree until liquefied.
You can drink this broth warm, with a little sea salt or pink salt of desired. Dr. Bieler used this to help cleanse the liver, restore the endocrine glands, and promote alkalinity of the body. It can be used as a substitute for one or more meals, or as your sole sustenance while fasting. If you desire a more liquid diet for your fast, and especially if the digestive organs are really taxed, you can give away the vegetables to someone else, and simply drink the water they were cooked in.
The re-entry process after any fast - but especially one lasting a few days or more - should be gradual. Now that your system is cleaner, introduce solid and complex foods slowly. If it's done too rapidly, you can undo much of the benefit of the fast. When planning a fast, include the re-entry process in your plan. If you were on a water fast, first eat broths and/or juices, then simple solid foods, before diving into a bag of Sour Patch Kids. ;)
Let me know about your experience if you decide to try this – and remember, it’s always a good idea to check in with your healthcare practitioner before a fast, especially if you have health problems.
Be well,
Dr. Peter Borten
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Since at least several hundred years B.C., people in Greece, India, China, and elsewhere have used a technique of applying friction to the skin in order to resolve pain and treat deeper medical disorders, and it’s recently attracted the attention of mainstream medicine. The Greeks called it “frictioning.” The Chinese call it Gua Sha.
The technique involves using the hands, a piece of coarse cloth, or, more commonly, a ceramic spoon, a coin, a dull, thick blade, or the edge of a jar lid, to repeatedly stroke the skin until it becomes red. Nearly everyone in China (and much of greater East Asia) is familiar with Gua Sha, and parents routinely perform it on their children for colds and flus. Practitioners of Chinese medicine usually employ it to treat communicable diseases, conditions of internal toxicity, and to release tight tissues to alleviate pain and stiffness. Gua sha also has an extensive history of successfully treating cholera, a form of epidemic diarrhea.
When you receive Gua Sha, the practitioner usually oils your skin first, and then begins stroking the treatment area repeatedly with the blunt edge of their tool (I like a ceramic spoon or piece of water buffalo horn best). Often, dots begin to appear under the skin, ranging from bright red to deep purple, and with continued stroking, they multiply and fill in the area, until the whole region develops a diffuse bruise-like look. Actually, the marks left by Gua Sha have caused some problems in the U.S., where teachers who are unfamiliar with the technique have noticed the marks on some of their Asian students and alerted authorities of suspected child abuse!
To look at it, someone might think you were tortured, but it’s not a painful process. Many people enjoy the sensation, though it can occasionally feel a bit tickly or mildly sore. The marks disappear within a few days. When these dots arise quickly, and especially when they’re dark in color, we consider this to indicate poor circulation and/or a build-up of toxins in the area, which is a sign that the treatment was needed and should produce an improvement in health and a loosening of the muscles.
Frictioning techniques were initially understood by the Greeks as counteracting an existing condition – shifting the body’s attention by causing irritation (called “counter-irritation”) or a healing crisis elsewhere in the body. The minor trauma the technique caused was thought to elicit a broader healing response by the body, which would frequently resolve whatever other issue a person was grappling with.
The Chinese understand the technique as releasing something (pathogenic factors, such cold, dampness, stagnant blood, and toxins) through the surface of the body, and invigorating local circulation. Gua means “to scrape or scratch.” Sha means a sickness or evil that is retained in the body and also the rash-like expression when Gua Sha is performed. That is, Gua Sha is the process of intentionally bringing Sha to the surface. Other terms, such as Pak Sha (“pak” means “to slap”) and Xian Sha (“xian” means “to pinch”), describe different ways of eliciting Sha.
It has been said that, “Gua Sha is to an Asian family what chicken soup is to a family in the West.” Because this practice is so ubiquitous, and so humble, it’s especially funny that opportunists in the West have reframed this method as a brand new, cutting edge medical technique, dubbing it the Graston Technique and Astym (among other monikers). What’s more, I know people who have paid large sums to receive these techniques, under the impression that they are culmination of modern Western scientific research.
For instance, the Astym website features the question, “Can’t I just do this myself?” and the response: “You can only get the results ASTYM treatment delivers from a certified ASTYM therapist…. The ASTYM system’s outstanding results can not be achieved by picking up something you have at home and rubbing it along your skin. If this worked, there wouldn’t have been any need to spend years on the research and development process.” Millions of acupuncturists and Chinese lay people would beg to differ!
Don’t get me wrong. I do think it’s worth paying a trained medical professional to help you deal with your pain. And while I’ve never received The Graston Technique or Astym from a professional, I wouldn’t be surprised if they work – because I know Gua Sha works. My purpose is not to disparage these Western spin-offs, but to illuminate the true historical context and persistence of this technique. Medicines don’t usually stick around for over 2000 years if they don’t work! If you’re interested in learning more, ask an acupuncturist, or check out the authoritative book on the subject by my colleague Arya Neilsen, called simply Gua Sha.
Be well,
Dr. Peter Borten
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