What does "tuina" mean?

Generally speaking, tuina refers to a therapeutic method in which traditional Chinese medicine practitioners use their hands to apply techniques such as pushing, grasping, lifting, pinching, and kneading along the body's meridians and acupoints. A detailed analysis is as follows:

Tuina is a non-pharmacological, natural and physical therapy. It typically involves a practitioner using their hands on the patient’s body surface, injured areas, sites of discomfort, specific acupoints, or painful regions. Various manual techniques—including pushing, grasping, pressing, rubbing, kneading, pinching, pointing, and tapping—are applied with differing force and skill to achieve therapeutic effects such as unblocking meridians, promoting the circulation of qi and blood, relieving pain and injuries, eliminating pathogenic factors while strengthening the body’s defenses, balancing yin and yang, and prolonging life. Because tuina relies on manual massage, it generally has minimal side effects and can effectively relieve muscle spasms, improve blood circulation, and enhance immune function. Moreover, tuina involves a physician applying specific forces, skills, and stimuli with their hands to certain parts of the patient's body to restore or enhance vitality and promote recovery from illness. Therefore, certain precautions should be observed during tuina treatment, including attention to timing: each session should ideally last about 20 minutes.

Tuina should be performed only by qualified professionals following standardized procedures. Patients should avoid alcohol consumption or excessive fatigue during treatment, and self-administered or arbitrary manipulation should be avoided.