Scrape It Or Scrap It?

Gua sha facials have blown up among wellness and beauty influencers. Here is what doctors and traditional Chinese medicine practitioners want you to know about it

- Akshita Nanda

When Ms Shafikah thinks her face is puffy, she uses a gua sha tool to lightly scrape the skin.

"When I wake up, my face is very swollen. Gua sha helps to bring that down," says the 27-year-old, who asked to be known by one name.

Ms Shafikah offers bekam, the Malay name for cupping services, from her home in the north of Singapore via her Instagram account @nuorhijama. She is considering adding gua sha to the menu as well, but currently does it only for herself.

She grew more interested in gua sha as it trended online. She uses a metal scraper for her facial puffiness, a jade roller for her neck and a ceramic-headed tool that heats up and helps release tightness in her shoulders.

Gua sha has grown increasingly popular among wellness and beauty influencers, with American socialite Kendall Jenner among the many claiming that it slims the face and helps with lymphatic drainage.

A short reel of Jenner's gua sha routine, posted on YouTube in April 2024 by fashion magazine Vogue, has racked up nearly 1.8 million views.

In March, American fitness influencer Johanna Devries shared her "morning 'face snatch' routine" on YouTube, where she has more than seven million followers.

The founder of the growwithjo YouTube channel and app posted a GIF of herself scraping her cheeks with a gua sha tool to de-puff a bloated face.

This is a dramatic change from two decades ago, when freelance beautician Emily Teng, 64, trained in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practices for beauty services.

Back then, she says, no one was interested in gua sha. Neither she nor her classmates found any takers for beauty treatments related to gua sha.

"Now, it has gained popularity in Western countries as an 'instant Botox' for the face," she adds.

Does gua sha truly help to slim the face? Why might your face become puffy in the first place? What is lymphatic drainage and do you need help with it?