If you have been spending time researching Chinese medicine, you might have encountered a strange form of therapy called moxibustion. Generally speaking, moxibustion isn’t as popular as Chinese herbal medicine or acupuncture, nonetheless, it is a relaxing technique that carries a ton of health benefits – more so when it’s used in combination with regular acupuncture treatments.
If you are searching for a clinic that offers Chinese medicine, be sure to find one that provides moxibustion therapy, especially if you suffer from persistent health issues. According to the “Inner Classic of the Yellow Emperor” or the Huang Di Nei Jing Ling Shu, which is considered the oldest known medical text in the world, diseases that cannot be resolved by acupuncture can be treated by moxibustion.” Moxibustion these days is usually used on people who are hypersensitive to or have found little or no success with either acupuncture or drug therapies.
This article will help you better understand what moxibustion therapy is and how it’s used, so you may have other options that can affect your well being.
What is moxibustion?
Chinese medicine practitioners have several types of moxibustion treatments to choose from. The practice of moxibustion is as old as acupuncture itself; actually, acupuncture in Chinese is called zhenjiu, which directly translates to moxibustion and acupuncture. Moxibustion is believed to have originated in China less than 3000 years ago. Some researchers believe that simpler forms of moxibustion have existed that are even older than acupuncture.
As with most ancient Chinese therapies, moxibustion is designed to balance in the body and ensure an uninterrupted flow of chi in the body. Balance, in this instance, can be accomplished by heating moxa or artemesia vulgaris or mugwort directly or very near the skin. The potent herb has been used for hundreds of years both in the West and in China, and in America it’s probably best known for its close association with the “witches” of 14th century Europe. This is due to the fact that it has been widely used as folk medicine to relieve abdominal pain, itchy skin, menstrual disorders, and anxiety.
Within a modern Western medical framework, moxa is considered as a natural diuretic and a form of mild stimulant. It can also activate additional flow of blood to the pelvic area – particularly in the uterus. It is therefore, used to treat uterine cramping and absent or light menstruation. Moxibustion can also be recommended for turning breech babies.
Through the application of therapeutic heat, moxibustion can aid in the stimulation of deficient, sluggish, or stagnated chi especially when it’s performed by a skilled Chinese medicine practitioner. It tends to amplify the benefits of acupuncture and helps ameliorate chronic stagnation.
Direct and Indirect Moxibustion
In direct moxibustion, the practitioner applies a flaming moxa ball directly on the skin. The practitioner will light up a stick of incense to ignite the moxa “wool” while the patient calmly lies on the acupuncture table. As the herb ball smolders, it generates heat that warms the affected acupoints. This heat can vary based on the condition and other personal attributes of the patient.
American practitioners commonly use indirect moxibustion as it is deemed to be a safer treatment than direct moxibustion. This procedure is typically administered in a couple of ways. One way is for the practitioner to hold very close to the skin the smoldering edge of the moxa stick, until the acupoint warms sufficiently. This indicates that the vital fluids including the blood of the patient have been properly channeled along the meridians, which leads to the treatment of the patient’s ailments. (Modern clinics these days avail of smokeless and slower-burning sticks of moxa that can be more tolerable if you’re sensitive to the smoke generated by the moxa). The practitioner can also use a tiger warmer in indirect moxibustion, or a buffer such as aconite, salt, or ginger or garlic slices between the moxa and the skin. This keeps the body extremely warm.
One other indirect moxibustion approach is to wrap smaller moxa balls around the acupuncture needles and ignite them. The heat then moves down the shaft of the needle and into the acupoint, augmenting the healing benefits of acupuncture. In each session, a moxa wool ball is usually placed on a single or a couple of needles. Most patients report soothing and warm sensations during and after a round of treatment.
Does moxibustion really work?
Despite ongoing research, scientists still do not know the exact mechanisms of moxibustion therapies. According to some experts, moxibustion and other heat-based therapies such as saunas, warming creams, hot tubs, and heat packs all work in a similar manner. While in Western medicine, moxibustion is used as a treatment for localized pain, in Chinese medicine, heat is used to alleviate whole-body and more systemic health problems.
Who should use moxibustion?
Moxibustion is widely used to eliminate stagnation and cold and the issues that arise because of them because yang or fire is the therapy’s central component. From Western medicine spectacles, ordinary illnesses that may be connected to stagnation and cold in some way or another include:
Hypothyroidism
Sluggish digestion
Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
Poor immunity
Hypersensitivity to cold
Depression and low mood
Fluid retention
Arthritis and joint pain
Western medical studies have slowly begun to verify the efficacy of moxibustion in treating those abovementioned conditions. Moxibustion has been shown to be very beneficial for people suffering from osteoarthritis in one placebo-controlled clinical trial. Researchers concluded at the end of the trial:
Moxibustion therapy is easy to perform, simple, and very cost-effective. It can be more easily replicated than acupuncture, which is subordinate to changes emanating from the different methods of needling of individual therapists. These findings indicate moxibustion to be an effective, easy-to-use, and safe therapy which can be used as a complement to conventional medicine for the relief of pain and for the functional improvements of patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis.
In another study, researchers used indirect moxibustion on two acupoints in 45 people suffering from Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Aside from taking prescription drugs, they discovered that group given moxa therapies experienced improved thyroid function compared to those that only took medications.
For women, the most intriguing uses of moxibustion are its capacity to turn breech babies. Almost all or 95 percent of breech babies need to be delivered via cesarean section, but most mothers prefer not to go through this very invasive procedure. Studies recently done have showed that when combined with acupuncture and postural methods, moxibustion can help turn babies over so they may be delivered in a natural position at birth. This can also be due to the ability of moxibustion to set off uterine contractions that can turn breech babies gently around.
Conclusion
As with acupuncture, moxibustion’s healing qualities to date have been backed by a considerable amount of medical studies. As knowledge of the safety and effectiveness of this therapy increases, more and more research studies will soon be looking into its mechanisms and applications soon.
People who failed to get adequate results with other treatments can also find moxibustion to be an effective treatment for their problems. It can be used on people who are still suffering from a wide range of conditions after trying both conventional and alternative treatments. Chinese medicine practitioners often provide their patients with moxa rolls and instruct them on how to heal themselves at home. Sustained and consistent application is key, as with most traditional Chinese treatments.
We recommend searching for experienced and qualified Chinese medicine healers in Overland Park who are willing to work with moxibustion and a wide range of treatments at their disposal.
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