Tui Na may not be a term you are familiar with, but Acupressure probably is. Acupressure is the original form of Oriental Medicine along with herbs. Now there are more ways of stimulating acupoints including needles. Acupressure is a form of stimulating acupoints with the practitioners hands as a manual therapy (Shiatsu is a floor version).
Tui Na massage uses hands to manually work on acupoints as well. Additionally as a medical form, Tui Na uses the entire arsenal of Oriental Medicine using external herbs, fire cupping, gua sha, stretching, traction, rolling, passive joint movement, ortho evaluation, and much more. Tui Na is used as the only form of physical therapy in China, is used for sports injuries, and all other ailments. A short list of ailments Tui Na massage can be used on is: digestive & reproductive, complaints, pain, musculo-skeletal and pediatrics. Tui Na and Acupressure is normally preformed without oils and with the client fully clothed. Sometimes areas need to be accessed to apply external herbs or to work more intensely on an area.
We are certified as Tui Na and Acupressure massage specialists in San Diego by the AOBTA, the NCBTMB, ICHM, and Pacific College of Oriental Medicine. For more information on Tui Na an informative article is here