Always Travelling

Anyone ever had a coin massage? In one of my cross-cultural psych lectures this semester the topic was briefly brought up by the lecturer as an example of a practice that is initially quite shocking to the Western observer. Pictures are seemingly quite difficult to find on the web at the moment, and I won't show them on my blog to spare all those innocent eyes, but a good example of the bruising that results from a coin massage can be found here. Bruising from 'cupping', practiced with similar underlying beliefs, can be see here. (Both photos look to be of Western tourists to Indonesia).

Coining, or cao gio (pronounced phonetically gow yaw), is an alternative form of medicine most commonly practiced in Southeast Asia.  The practice of coining involves rubbing heated oil on the skin, most commonly the chest, back, or shoulders, and then vigorously rubbing a coin over the area in a linear fashion until a red mark is seen.

Coining is believed to allow a path by which a "bad wind" can be released from the body.  This "wind" is believed to be the cause of the patient's illness.  Advocates use this method to treat a variety of minor ailments including fever, chills, headache, colds, and cough. Reference

There is also a wikipedia article on Gua Sha, which covers a similar practice that probably has similar origins. The various bruising techniques probably changed and adjusted as the "releasing of wind" belief was exported out of China through the Chinese diaspora in South-East Asia. Or something like that.

I have had a coin massage, and loved it; it was not painful at all, and I did end up with red stripes like the veins of a leaf all over my back, just as in the linked pic above. It was a few years ago and from an Indonesian ex-girlfriend. I had a flu at the time and was very muscle sore, and although I can't conclusively say it helped me recover quicker than I would have anyway, I didn't suffer badly either - although the bruising would have shocked anyone who saw it. In fact, my doctor did see it, a couple of days later. I'd gone in to get a medical certificate for an assignment extension... he was surprised but being an old bloke who had been practising for decades and presumably seen a lot of weird things, was pretty accepting and business-like. The bruising faded and after four or five days wasn't visible. 

posted by Nic  # 10:35 AM