1. Introduction
Scraping, called Gua Sha in Traditional Chinese medicine
(TCM), is one of the unique non-medicinal external therapies
of TCM under the guidance of the theory of meridians
and acupoints. It involves using a smooth-edged instrument
for surface frictioning to intentionally raise transitory petechiae
and ecchymosis [1, 2]. To date, scraping has shown
pain-relieving effects onmyalgia and chronic pain [2–5], and
can improve blood stasis and inflammation [6]. Although
several reports indicated the effects of scraping therapy in
clinical and experimental practices, the mechanism is still not
clear. Recently, Tian et al. reported blood perfusion volume
increased immediately after skin scraping in rabbits using
laser Doppler imager [7]. In this study, we aim to determine
the changes of the local blood perfusion volume and skin
temperature after scraping in healthy subjects.