Manual Therapies

When you come in for your appointment, we may utilize manual therapies in addition to your acupuncture treatment.
Tuina

Tuina is a system of Chinese medical massage. Historically, it has been closely linked to martial arts and was passed down through apprenticeships. Think about it. The leader who could get his soldiers healthy again the fastest would be more likely to win the next battle. It’s not surprising, then, that tuina is one of Chinese Medicine’s most effective tools to help you recover from a wide variety of musculoskeletal injuries and trauma.

Tuina is not your typical relaxing massage; the aim is explicitly therapeutic. It uses active and passive stretching and soft tissue and joint mobilizations, and other techniques that are similar to western myofascial release. Like other sports medicine techniques we use, the goal is to restore normal, pain free movement.
Gua Sha

Gua Sha is a traditional form of instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization. It involves rubbing / scraping the skin with around-edged instrument. Usually, I use a specially cut piece of jade. Traditionally, it is thought to improve blood circulation in the muscle and other tissue.

It is also used to break up myofascial adhesions in the areas that we treat. Fascia is the “shrink wrap” around your muscles, blood vessels and other tissues. Normally, sheets of fascia slide smooth lyover one another. Injury, over training, inflammation or other causes can cause cross linkages and / or “scar tissue” to form,which prevent normal gliding and elasticity. Gua Sha, along with tuina can help to break up those adhesions and improve mobility. Usually, patients experience immediate improvement in stiffness, pain and movement following a treatment.