Moxibustion- an undervalued health treasure in western countries

​‘保命之法，艾灼第一’ -《扁鹊心书·须识扶阳》窦材 - 宋朝1076-1146 AD

‘The Best Way to Extend One’s Life is Having Moxibustion‘ - 《Bianque Xinshu, Foster The Yang Energy》by Doucai Song Dynasty 1076-1146 AD

‘若要安，三里常不干‘ 孙思邈 541- 682 AD

‘If want health, one should always do moxibustion on Zusanli point'

- Sunsimiao 541-682 AD

‘药之不及,针之不到，必须灸之‘ -《黄帝内经 》200 AD

‘Where the needles and herbs don’t reach, must use moxibustion.’

– 《Huangdi Neijing》200 AD

Moxibustion is a traditional Chinese medicine therapy which consist of burning dried (and aged) mugworts on particular acupoints on the body to treat diseases. It is also used to boost immunity and prevent diseases. Moxibustion had thousands of history in China, even longer than acupuncture.

Strictly speaking, Moxibustion is a part of Acupuncture therapy. The word acupuncture in the Chinese language is presented as ‘针灸', or 'Zhen Jiu’, which translates as ‘Needling and Moxibustion’. The reason traditionally they together formed one therapy in China was because they both worked on the same theory of the Meridians and Acupoints system, also, the two were often used together. Additionally, because they worked with different mechanisms, they also complement each other in treatments. There is a saying in the classics 《Ling Shu-Huangdi Neijing》 ‘where needles can't reach, must use moxibustion’.

In China, there are an increasing number of studies investigating the effects of moxibustion therapy. A bibliometric analysis studied all moxibustion research papers published in China between 1954 and 2007, concluded that up to 364 kinds of conditions can be treated with moxibustion, naming a few here: fetus malposition, diarrhoea and colitis, urinary incontinence, urinary retention, dysmenorrhea, osteoarthritis, soft tissue injury, heel pain, asthma, and herpes zoster...

Especially for Osteoarthritis condition, Erica Chen, the owner of Lotus Alliance Wellbeing CIC saw the huge and potential benefit of moxibustion for the large group of patients in the UK, that she made this her research paper topic for her university dissertation. If you are interested, please click the link below to download Erica's dissertation paper about the Home Moxibustion therapy for Elderly Osteoarthritis.

Dissertation paper- K1751617.pdf

Download PDF • 3.42MB

Now here comes the question: if moxa is so wonderful, why isn't moxibustion popular in the UK? As Erica pointed out in her research paper, the main reasons that British people didn't like the conventional moxibustion therapy were because of the smoke and smell it gives out when it's burning, and the potential fire hazard if not used carefully. It is true that regardless the medicinal and anti-bacterial & anti-virus effects of moxa smoke, long time exposure and large amount of moxa smoke inhaled by the patients can be harmful to health.

However, with the advance of modern technology and the invention of various tools and equipment, the smoke and smell are no longer a problem. The various thoughtful tools nowadays also made applying moxibustion at home quite easy. Because its powerful benefits to the body, and wide range of suitable health conditions, Erica thinks it's now the time for British people to start using moxibustion widely, not only for treating diseases, but also for improving general well-being too. With the minimal training of techniques, the basic rules, and some knowledges of circumstances that moxibustion shouldn't be applied, it is safe to say that most British people will benefit from regular use of moxibustion, especially with the British climate.

In our blogs laer on, we will teach some tips of moxibustion, including points selection for certain illnesses, in certain seasons, also Do's and Don'ts. To make moxibustion even easier and suit more body conditions, Erica also discovered and imported from China a safe moxa protocol called the 4-steps moxibustion. It uses 4 specific points in a particular order, taking stages of 'detox, prebirth, afterbirth, and consolidate energy', to reach the ultimate effectiveness of immunity boost and regulate health. For details about the 4-steps moxibustion, please refer to our Therapies page on our website.

Circumstances that moxibustions should be prohibited:

• 4 'Overs'- over excited emotional status, over hungry, over full stomach, overly tired

• After alcohol consumption

• Pregnancy women, except for breeching a baby on the toes or by a practitioner

• Women with heavy bleeding during period

• High fever, severe infection, severe heart condition, psychiatric disorder, extremely weak people shouldn't use moxibustion

Key points to remember:

• Drink plenty of warm water frequently during acupuncture (60 oC)

• Avoid draught or cold air during moxibustion

• Avoid doing moxibustion in a hot, closed and stuffy environment

• Keep safe distance to the moxa stick, do not tolerate hot, avoid burning accident

• 4 hours after moxibustion, avoid drinking cold drink or eating fruits, taking cold shower, touching cold water, exposing in wind or cold air

• Otherwise Moxibustion is safe for all age group and can regulate all sorts of health conditions. Persistence is important for the accumulative effect.

  
  

Pre-warning for 'Healing Crisis'

Finally, here is one piece of important prewarning or advice which is: even though moxibustion is a wonderful treatment, one must be mentally prepared for something called 'Healing Crisis'. Ironically, regardless the word 'crisis', it is part of the positive healing process, showing the person is going to get better. It is a term or condition that's quite common in holistic therapy, especially so in moxibustion. To explain in a simpler way, because moxibustion is so powerful and it injects the positive energy in the body, it boosts the body's self-healing ability hence have the energy to 'fight' with the negative conditions in the body.

It's like our body's high fever when catching a cold, which is a sign that our body's natural immunity fighting with the illness. In some cases of moxibustion reaction, it 'digs out' 'the dormant old problems or brings the 'future symptom' forward to sort out at present, hence people will experience some seemingly 'adverse' effect. Those 'Healing Crisis' normally would only last for a few days to a couple of weeks then will disappear. Remember, they are body's positive reactions brought out by the treatment. When the 'Healing Crisis' occurs, the person should continue the treatment to help ourbodiess win the 'battle'.

If you are not confident about whether it's healing crisis or true adverse effect, you can consult a Chinese medicine practitioner who's experienced in moxibustion or simply go and have the treatments under their guidance. Wish you all good health and happiness.