“My uncle used to use a coin to scrape his skin whenever he wasn’t feeling well.”

The informant was born in the United States, but her family moved from China and celebrated Chinese holidays.

After thoughts: “Gua sha” is a traditional Chinese medical treatment where the person scrapes their skin to produce light bruising. This is believed to release the elements from injured areas and stimulate blood flow and healing. This can be seen in other societies such as in Vietnamese and Indonesian cultures.