The Pros and Cons of DIY Gua Sha and Cupping

Gua sha and cupping both have a history that extends back a long time in history. They’ve both helped people overcome pain and fortify their health for over 2,000 years.

Gua Sha means “scrape rash,” and it’s used when things are tight to release tension. “Rash” refers to blood that sits in our tight muscles and causes stabbing or aching pain. Gua Sha has also become very popular on the face and for diminishing scar tissue.

Cupping is also becoming more popular for pain relief. Stationary cupping creates a red mark and provides the same benefits as gua sha – the suction releases the blood stuck inside the muscle that causes pain.

While many professionals use gua sha and cupping to relieve pain and tightness, you can find gua sha stones and cupping sets on Amazon to do it yourself. However, performing gua sha on yourself outside of your practitioner’s office means you have to make sure you know how to use and clean your equipment correctly.

If you don’t clean your equipment right, you run the risk of introducing bacteria to your skin. This can cause skin infections and seriously inflame and irritate skin.

If performed correctly, you will feel your muscles relax or help your skin glow. There’s a couple of things you’ll want to keep in mind when performing gua sha or cupping on your own.

You need to be careful to keep your tools clean and avoid overtreating yourself. You might also fail in keeping up with your new self-care routine now that you have to be accountable for doing it yourself.

When cupping yourself, pay attention to how long you leave a cup in place for – if you leave a cup in place too long you can develop fluid filled blisters. Always monitor how long you leave a cup in place for and don’t leave them on for longer than 10 minutes. Start with shorter times and work your way up to see what works best for you.

Keep your cups clean and be careful about sharing them with other people if they are not properly sterilized. Make sure to wash them with soap and water to remove any built-up product and rinse thoroughly in hot water. Also, make sure to shake off any extra water to prevent microbial growth.

Cleaning with soap and water is not enough to disinfect your tools, you’ll want to disinfect them as well. When disinfecting, I soak my cups in a cupping solution and allow them to air dry. When you’re done, cover them or put them in a Ziplock baggie to prevent contamination.

The same is true for your gua sha tools. Your face is delicate, and no one wants to develop problems on their face. I spray my gua sha with 70% alcohol and allow it to air dry. Be careful if using hydrogen peroxide as it is a significantly stronger disinfecting agent that can cause damage to your skin if residue is left on your tools.

Gua sha can be gentle or more aggressive but be careful where you apply pressure to protect sensitive areas like the lymph nodes in your neck. Developing the right pressure to help stimulate the skin without causing irritations takes time. 

I turn to gua sha on my patients when they are tight, and I am very careful to listen to them if something hurts. I explain that as the rash comes up it will burn, but I want to keep an eye out for intolerable pain. This is very important because people with severe or longstanding pain may experience significant pain levels.

Self-care can be hard to make time for as a busy person; you might intend to do things when you buy them and then fail to actually follow through.

Overall, it’s important to listen to your body and keep your tools clean so you do not get an infection from bacteria.

Sometimes it’s best to let a professional do the self-care for you (which means you get to relax and stop worrying about whether you’re doing it right). Come see me for gua sha and cupping so you can sit back and enjoy your treatment.