No Pain, No Gain - Chinese Needles, Blades & Cupping
The Chinese are serious about healing. Some people, like my Mother, find even a gentle Swedish massage unpleasant; anything more than a light back scratch was too much for her. (Because God apparently has a sense of humor, he sent her a velcro daughter who who attempted to lay on top of her whenever a moment presented!) Chinese traditions are not for people like my mother!
But if your a bit of a masochist, like me, you might want to try out a few these alternative Chinese therapies...
Discussed in this Article
Chinese medicine is greatly influenced by Chinese philosophy and the
concepts of Qi and Yin & Yang Meridians. The goal is always to allow the
Qi (or life force) to flow freely on the body's meridians, which is accomplished
by balancing the complimentary and contrasting forces of Yin & Yang.
With this emphasis on opposites in balance it's not surprising that along side
their relaxing massage traditions there would also develop
some... less than relaxing treatments to alleviate pain.
Reflexology & Chinese Foot Massage
We also discussed Reflexology & Chinese Foot Massage in the Article on Massage and compared it, in some ways to a Pedicure, and as practiced in the West this is often true. But if you do a pure reflexology session in the East, or in a massage parlor off Frenchman Street in New Orleans, without the lotions, gentle touch or a masseur that speaks English, the experience will be any thing but relaxing.
The masseuse will dig their thumbs between every arch and calf muscle like he's pulling apart chicken breasts and trying to remove the tenders.
It's shocking how sensitive your 'tough' feet can be, not to mention your achilles heels and shins. (These street parlors often also offer ashiatsu, where the practitioner uses their feet, which can create a similar sensation of being flayed on your thighs if your so inclined.)
Also known as "zone therapy," Reflexology is the application of pressure to the feet and hands with specific thumb, finger, and hand techniques. It's based on the belief in a system of zones that reflect an image of the body onto the feet and hands, (where specific areas of the feet and hands are connected to various parts of the body via the Qi - Rubbing the toes, for instance to effect the head and relieve headaches.)
I have had lovely reflexology treatments in nail salons and at Korean Spas but all true Chinese foot massages I've ever had were an exercise in withstanding torture.
(I've heard the same about about Thai massage - that an authentic session will practically dislocate your joints and tie you in knots - I'll be sure to update you when I get to Thailand!)
[Interestingly, Reflexology is not really a traditional Chinese practice. Chinese Foot Massage has been around for a very long time, and similar practices are documented in ancient India and Egypt, but the addition of Reflexology mapping and theory wasn't added until the 20th century when an ear, nose and throat specialist, Dr. William Fitzgerald, proposed that pressure to the foot could have anesthetic affects on other parts of the body in 1913. The theory was further developed into the maps we see today in the 30's and 40's by a Dr. Ingham.]
Acupuncture
Chinese Foot masseurs are said to be able to diagnose internal disharmonies just by working on your feet. If they sense something worrying they might prescribe a treatment like acupuncture.
Devised sometime around 2500 BC in China, Acupuncture is related to acupressure (Latin acus = needle.) It targets the same acupoints in the body, only the pressure applied is in the form of sharp, piercing needles.
A typical session might entail five to twenty (usually metal) needles, which are manipulated manually and left in place for ten to twenty minutes. It sounds like it would hurt but it's not as bad as you'd think.
The thickness of the needles vary, and if you're new they start extremely fine. I haven't found the procedure to be particularly painful. The back doesn't have an abundance of sensitive nerve endings programed to feel acute sensations. You're meant to experience De-qi (meaning arrival of Qi) at the point of insertion, a sensation of numbness or tingling, which is an indication that the acupoint has been hit.
Sometimes the needles are heated by flames first, called Fire-needling, or the treatment is combined with the application of heat, pressure, or laser light and even other treatments like Cupping or Moxibustion, a therapy in which dried mugwort is burnt on the acupoints of a body.
Needles are kept sanitary, most place utilizing the disposable, single use variety, so if you get the procedure with a reputable practitioner even skeptics of the practice will tell you it's safe. Side effects are no worse than slight soreness or minor bruising. They tell you not to move during the session so the needle isn't wiggled around in muscle, adding to any after ache. (I was slightly sore after my treatment but I did undergo Fire Cupping at the same time so I can't say specifically what caused my soreness.)
Over the centuries, Chinese Acupuncture has spread all over Asia. Japan practices a specific Scalp Acupuncture and Korea developed Koryo, Hand Acupuncture.
Modern variations include the electrical stimulation of the needles, called Electroacupuncture, Bee Venom Acupuncture, were purified bee venom is injected, Cosmetic Acupuncture (for wrinkles) and Auriculotherapy, or ear acupuncture, (which claims to trace to ancient China but the modern treatment was developed in France in the 1950s.)
Cupping & Fire Cupping
Cupping therapy shot into the world spotlight when the bruises left by the treatment were visible on swimmers at the Olympics. The practice is meant to improve circulation.
Domed glass cups or bamboo jars are attached to the skin using vacuum pressure. The vacuum can be created with a hand-pump or by heating the cups with matches in Fire Cupping. The vacuum pressure is strong enough to lift both the skin and muscle beneath the cup (and burst the area capillaries, creating the tell-tale large purple welts and cup hickies.)
[Ancient Egyptians also practiced cupping, descriptions of which have been found in hieroglyphics texts on healing. It’s unknown if either the Egyptian or Chinese traditions influenced each other or if they developed separately]
I don't know if it accomplishes what it claims to in regards to blood flow, but my personal experience with cupping was that the lifting action of the vacuum cup did effectively release tension in areas of my back where hands would never have been able to reach under the surface muscles to manually massage. The vacuum created enough consistent negative pressure pulling on those lower level contracted muscles to get them to relax and let go, and it was well worth the slight soreness I felt afterwards and the unsightly bruises.
Gua Sha or Gua Sha Massage
Gua Sha is Chinese healing technique that consists of scraping the skin with a blunt scraping blade, often made of a polished stone like jade, rose quartz or marble. Like cupping it's also meant improve circulation, and doesn't appear to an observer to be as painful as acupuncture appears, but the scraping can be so forceful as to be extremely unpleasant and can leave the skin raw and covered with abrasions. Which might be why the practice hasn't become as popular in the west as other Chinese treatments have.
Gua Sha Massage is the only treatment from the article I haven't had the chance to try yet, but I definitely will when I get the chance. And I can honestly say I'm not opposed to doing any of the others again. (I used to get Chinese Foot Massages fairly regularly, despite the pain!)
What about you? Have you tried any traditional Chinese treatments? What did you think? Would give the ones you haven't a chance? Am I missing any? Let me know in the comments, I love to discover new therapies... :)
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