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A. Woo1, K. Lai1, A. Lee1, B. Ip1, K. Ng1, K. Wong1
1The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Background: Gua-Sha (scraping or coining) is a common traditional Chinese healing technique. Most research evaluated effects of Gua Sha on patients’ neck and back, rarely lower limb.
Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Gua Sha on the muscle stiffness in Rectus Femoris (RF) and the association between the extent of petechiae resulted from Gua Sha and the change of muscle stiffness in RF.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. Sixty healthy subjects were randomly divided into intervention group (14 males and 15 females, mean age = 21.6) and control group (15 males and 16 females, mean age = 20.9). Both groups first completed the eccentric exercise fatigue protocol. After that, the control group underwent a 2-minute rest while the intervention group had a 2-minute Gua Sha intervention. Skin color and muscle stiffness of RF muscle were measured before and after eccentric exercise, as well as immediately and 30 minutes after Gua Sha.
Results: Results showed that there were significant changes in skin lightness and darkness (p<0.001), redness and greenness (p<0.001) and knee flexion range (p=0.046) after Gua Sha in intervention group. Pearson’s/Spearman’s correlation coefficient between the change of redness (red-green difference) and the change of muscle stiffness measured by shearwave elastography (SWE) was significant before and 30 minutes after Gua Sha (r=-0.421, p=0.023).
Conclusion(s): This study revealed that Gua Sha could alter skin color and the change of skin redness was negatively correlated with stiffness of RF muscle, while insignificant effect was shown in muscle stiffness of RF muscle with eccentric exercise fatigue protocol and Gua Sha.
Implications: The findings of this study are restricted to healthy subjects only. Since it is the first study investigating the effect of Gua-Sha in RF stiffness, we would like to establish the effects over normal subjects before real patients. However, this may have led to the insignificant major findings, which is similar to another study (34). Further research should focus more on how patients with knee problems are benefitted from Gua-Sha.
Since the exact mechanism of Gua-Sha being useful in clinical setting such as symptomatic relief is still unknown, further research could examine the relationship between the change of local and remote blood circulation and skin colour change at the intervention area, such that we would gain a better understanding of the change in skin redness.
Since the exact mechanism of Gua-Sha being useful in clinical setting such as symptomatic relief is still unknown, further research could examine the relationship between the change of local and remote blood circulation and skin colour change at the intervention area, such that we would gain a better understanding of the change in skin redness.
Funding, acknowledgements: No funding is included in the study.
Keywords: Gua Sha, Scraping, Muscle Stiffness
Topic: Musculoskeletal
Did this work require ethics approval? Yes
Institution: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Committee: Human Subjects Ethics Application Review System
Ethics number: HSEARS20180506001
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
