Geumsa (Gold Thread) Therapy

Geumsa (gold thread) therapy is a traditional method in which high-purity gold, drawn out as fine as thread, is placed into the surface layer of the skin at acupoint sites. The idea is that a fine gold thread remains for a long time where a needle would have been placed, so that a single session carries care forward over a long horizon.

Both East and West have a long history of keeping gold close to the body or using it medicinally. Gold powder and gold leaf have been used medicinally since early times, and the tradition of wrapping prized preparations such as Gongjindan and Uhwang Cheongsimwon in gold leaf, along with the custom of giving gold at a child's hundredth-day and first-birthday celebrations, are further strands of a culture that has long held gold precious.

The origins of gold thread therapy itself are not clearly recorded, though it is said to have begun in Japan after the Second World War. In Korea it became known through wide use among the traditional East Asian practice houses of Jongno in Seoul during the 1960s, and it has carried on since then as one of the traditional therapies.

The procedure involves determining the acupoint sites for the area to be worked on and then placing fine gold thread into the surface layer of the skin; for a few days afterwards a slight sensation of something foreign may be felt. Because this is a method that leaves material in the body, Dongbang JC Clinic gives a full explanation and consultation first, and whether to proceed is decided together in light of constitution and condition.