On BaGuaFa

[Guest guest]

Phil

 

It is more than just a GuaSha method.

 

Empty Cupping is called BaGuan.

Scraping is called GuaSha.

After seeing my work for many years Dr. Wu, Boping coined the term for

Cupping & Scraping method as 'BaGuaFa'.

 

My favorite stone GuaSha tool I fashioned from a piece of white/green jade

which was soft enough to sand and polish with various edge sharpness while it

retains a hard/dense enough object in order to direct a force towards the

blockage especially as thin a domain as myofasica, osteofascia, and/or

tendinofascia. While I was self learning I sanded and sanded daily for almost 2

years (it

was a gradual process) until every side and corner gave me the thicknesses and

sharpness needed for various levels and fine tuning for the various jobs

needed. This fineness and sharpness is important especially when working in

areas

at fingers/knucles/small joints. One section is just short of a knife cutting

edge yet it is still a rounded smooth edge (if you get my point).

 

Although it is best to see this done live....in lieu of........I would say

that biofeedback is paramount and this starts with 'looking' and then

'touching/palpating', 'feeling'. Most of this is automatic so I'll try to break

it down

in logical and simplified segments.

 

The first thing to do is to look at the hands and visually determine if both

are the same. Are all the fingers contracted to the same abnormality? Before

you even touch the hands or fingers......are there any areas showing any

discoloration such as redness and/or lumps?

 

Then feel the temperature of the person starting at their shoulders slowly

moving down the upper arms, through the elbows, through the wrists and then into

the fingers. Are there any areas of coldness? I say coldness because

contracture/blockage generally of this nature presents as areas of coldness

where the

qi, xue and jin-ye are blocked.

 

Then.....begin based upon what is found as to where to start the treatment.

If there is any irregularity higher up in the limbs....thats where I might

start. Begin using the GuaSha tool more like a diagnostic tool which is what I

call 'qi sha'. At about a 20 degree angle with some ointment on the skin begin a

smooth rubbing or gentle scraping motion ever so lightly. SEE the body

response. Under this kind of pressure-type rubbing there should never be any

redness

appearing in the tissue. When you immediately see redness then that is an area

of stagnation. One can then go deeper with a sharper part of the stone which

is almost like a cutting edge yet no cutting is performed. What you are

actually doing is stripping the fascia of any stagnation stuck within it. When

the

tissue permits it I move to cupping as it is more kind to the patient than

aggressive GuaSha and in most locations functions much better.

 

Patience and time is a must especially in small areas such as this.

 

One needs to picture what muscles/tendons are involved with opening and

closing the fingers, flexing the wrists, pronating and suppinaing the forearm

etc.

Opening and closing the fingers/fists has almost everything to do with the

fascia covering the muscles on both the dorsal and ventral sides of the forearm

as much as the fascia covering the fingers. Open and close your own fingers and

watch the appropriate muscles move. With a light 'qi sha' on both sides of

the forearm you can locate areas (thru PC and TW channels as example) where you

can cup and remove fascial constricture. Immediately the patient can have

improvement sometimes as fast as within five minutes. Keep checking the

patient's

ability to open and close the fingers all during your treatment. This is also

feedback that is needed in determining if you are working in the right areas.

 

As to any knuckle displacement if that exists....in addition to the fascial

release these should additionally be broken down with gentle but focused

rubbing with a pointed tip of the stone. The patient can also be given a regular

GuaSha tool made from horn to work on themselves. Remember that what is often

considered a bone spur is primarily caused by a fascitis. Relieve the fascial

stagnation and the need for the spur is gone and the body then breaks the spur

down by itself. The same type of situation exists in heel spurs caused either or

both by plantar fascitis or achilles tendonitis. Fascia is blocked making the

muscle/tendon attachment to the periosteum causing undue tensions on the bone

thereby stimulating the osteoblasts to grow. When the excessive

tension/stimulation dissipates the opposite occurs whereby the osteoblasts

activate to

destroy the spurs.

 

Whenever I use the pump cups which is all I use......I NEVER leave the cup on

for more than 5 seconds. There is no need. How much pressure you pump up the

cup is something that is based upon experience and biofeedback from the

patient. Thats why I have chosen not to try to use any electrical pump devices.

Sometimes I pump 2-3 squeezes and sometimes to the max which might be 5-6 pumps.

When you pump.....you view the tissue that pulls up within the cup. This also

is diagnostic besides being a treatment. The tissue being pulled within the cup

should under normal conditions be light pink BUT when you see it immediately

red, crimson red you KNOW that there is purplish eccheymosis below and

sometimes even petechiae. I will state as firmly as possible....unless one is

overdoing it and the patient's tissue is extremely weak you will NEVER cause any

internal bleeding. The bruising which appears is not a result of the cupping.

The

cupping is releasing these lesions from below or within the fascia. I

endearingly call it 'sludge' because lesion doesn't really explain it. It is not

neccesary to go into the TCM fluid physiology and fluid pathology

here....suffice

it to say that from a down-to-earth point of view there are a number of causes

which extravasate platelets from the vascular system winding up in the Extra

Cellular Matrix (interstitutial fluids and fascia)...namely blunt trauma,

repetative stress trauma, weak blood vessels, hypertension, high

cholesterol.....

to name a few of the key ones.

 

I only use one cup throughout the treatment releasing it and replacing it

depending again on what the body feeds back. I don't use any rubbing of the

cups.

I feel that the scrapping should be gentle and the cupping should be directly

UP to the surface rather than dragging the internal stagnation through the

inner tissues. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

Thats also another reason why I don;t leave cups on for more than 5 seconds. I

don;t wish to drag stagnation from other areas to the cup. I might revisit the

same cupped area but only after moving through all the areas including the edges

of where the stagnation ends. Again...the body will show you just where it

the stagnation exists and where it does't.

 

The body doesn't lie if one is willing to be patient and do the work. This

type of treatment is quite interactive and time consuming BUT the majority of

treatments get major results in one visit.

 

Besides all of this treatment work......the utmost important issue is staying

focused in 'awareness'. Sort of like a moving meditation. Not predicting or

analyzing anything yet all the time working to open the flow of qi, xue and

jin-ye.

 

I can send some pictures of a recent sciatic patient to give an example of

how extensive and how stubborn such a malady can be. I suspect we have all heard

of patients suffering as much as six months with sciatica. This one took only

3 consecutive days of treament to totally resolve excruciating pain. It was

caused by this 60 year old gentlemen putting up and taking down hurricane

shutters for three storms that were supposed to hit south Florida. using muscles

he

hasn;t used in a long time.

 

regards,

Richard

 

 

 

 

 

In a message dated 10/6/2004 3:31:20 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

writes:

Richard, would you describe your Guasha method for contracture

in more detail, please. I would like to learn more about this.

 

I learn a lot from this list. Next time I see a friend with contracture, I

will give it a go.

 

Best regards,

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Richard,

 

If you can, please post the images up into the group.

 

Kind regards

 

Attilio D'Alberto

<http://www.attiliodalberto.com/> www.attiliodalberto.com

 

 

I can send some pictures of a recent sciatic patient to give an example of

how extensive and how stubborn such a malady can be. I suspect we have all

heard

of patients suffering as much as six months with sciatica. This one took

only

3 consecutive days of treament to totally resolve excruciating pain. It was

caused by this 60 year old gentlemen putting up and taking down hurricane

shutters for three storms that were supposed to hit south Florida. using

muscles he

hasn;t used in a long time.

 

regards,

Richard