Gua sha for lymph drainage

One weird symptom I've been getting since the very beginning of my illness is a swollen face, mostly around the eyes. It's uncomfortable because I can actually feel the swelling in and around my eyes. This only happens when my liver is stressed usually during detox of some sort whether it be toxins or parasites.

One thing that helps a bring down the swelling a little bit is doing gua sha on my face every morning. Gua Sha is an ancient Chinese practice of "scraping" that helps stimulate chi and blood-flow and can aid in inflammation and pain. When this scraping is done on various parts of the body, it is generally done very hard and can leave red marks in the area of use due to friction and broken capillaries. But on the face, it's a different story.

When using the gua sha tool on the face, you press very gently and must follow a specific pattern in order to get that lymph system draining. The key is to go out and down. Remember, though gua sha can help with aging skin when done in an upwards motion, this is for lymphatic drainage so the direction differs a bit. 

What you will need:

1. A gentle face oil. These are some good ones but any oil you have at home will work.

2. A gua sha tool. Make sure you are purchasing a quality material and nothing synthetic or dyed. Many gua sha tools are either jade or rose and with all the hype these days around crystals, there are a lot of fakes out there- so buy quality!

What to do:

1. Dap a small amount of oil all over face including under eye and under eyelid.

2. Gua Sha: Start at the center of the forehead and work your way out and down repeating each meridian pathway 10 times. Start first with one side of your face and neck and then switch to the other.