What is Moxibustion?
Moxibustion (Chinese: 灸; pinyin: jiǔ) is a traditional Asian medicine therapy using moxa, or mugwort herb. It plays an important role in the traditional medical systems of Korea, China, Japan, Vietnam, Tibet, and Mongolia. Suppliers usually age the mugwort and grind it up to a fluff; practitioners burn the fluff or process it further into a stick that resembles a (non-smokable) cigar.
They can use it indirectly, with acupuncture needles, or sometimes burn it on a patient's skin.
The word moxa comes from Japanese mogusa (艾?,mugwort) (the u is not very strongly enuciated) blended with combustion "burning", hence literally "burning of mugwort". Yomogi (蓬) also serves as a synonym for moxa in Japan. Chinese uses the same character asmogusa, but pronounced differently: ài, also called àiróng (艾絨) (meaning "velvet of ài").
The Chinese character for moxibustion forms one half of the two making up the Chinese word that often gets translated as "acupuncture" zhēnjiǔ (針灸).
Theory and practice
Practitioners use moxa to warm regions and acupuncture points with the intention of stimulating circulation through the points and inducing a smoother flow of blood and qi. It is believed by some, for example at Mugwort (Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine by Clare Hanrahan), that mugwort acts as an emmenagogue, meaning that it stimulates blood-flow in the pelvic area and uterus. It is claimed that moxibustion militates against cold and dampness in the body and can serve to turn breech babies.
Medical historians now believe that moxibustion pre-dated acupuncture, and needling came to supplement moxa after the 2nd century BC. Different schools of acupuncture use moxa in varying degrees. For example, a 5-elements acupuncturist will use moxa directly on the skin, whilst a TCM-style practitioner will use rolls of moxa and hold them over the point treated. It can also be burnt atop a fine slice of ginger root to prevent scarring.
Practitioners consider moxibustion to be especially effective in the treatment of chronic problems, "deficient conditions" (weakness), and gerontology. Bian Que (fl. circa 500 BC), one of the most famous semi-legendary doctors of Chinese antiquity and the first specialist in moxibustion, discussed the benefits of moxa over acupuncture in his classic work. He asserted that moxa could add new energy to the body and could treat both excess and deficient conditions. On the other hand, he advised against the use of acupuncture in an already deficient (weak) patient, on the grounds that needle manipulation would leak too much energy. A huge classical work, Gao Huang Shu (膏肓俞),specialises solely in treatment indications for moxa on a single point (穴). Taoists use scarring moxibustion along with Chinese medical astrology for longevity.
Practitioners may use acupuncture needles made of various materials in combination with moxa, depending on the direction of qi flow they wish to stimulate. Moxibustion can be applied directly, by rolling tiny pellets or beads and burning them directly onto the skin on designated acupoints, or placing the pellets on small circular shields on the skin; or indirectly using sticks that come in two types – a soft, smokey kind with loosely-packed moxa (pictured above), or hard, smokeless kind with compressed moxa that is shorter in length and requires a holder once the burning tip gets close to the fingers holding it. Although the smoke from the soft sticks can be somewhat of an irritant, some practitioners prefer it, believing it to carry special healing properties.
Medical properties
In Traditional Chinese medicine there is a belief that moxibustion of mugwort is effective at increasing the cephalic positioning of fetuses who were in a breech position before the intervention. A 2005 Cochrane review argued that there is "limited evidence" that moxibustion may be useful for in reducing the need for ECV, but there is "insufficient evidence to support the use of moxibustion to correct a breech presentation" due to a lack of well-designed randomised controlled trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of moxibustion. Since it also causes uterine contractions, it has been used to cause abortion. A study of 260 Chinese women at 33 weeks of pregnancy demonstrated cephalic version within two weeks in 75% of fetuses carried by patients who were treated with moxibustion, as opposed to 48% in the control group. It has also been shown that acupuncture plus moxibustion slows fetal heart rates while increasing fetal movement. Two recent studies of Italian patients produced conflicting results. In the first, involving 226 patients, there was cephalic presentation at delivery in 54% of women treated between 33 and 35 weeks with acupuncture and moxibustion, vs. 37% in the control group. The second was terminated prematurely because of poor compliance with treatment, but found no difference between moxibustion and control groups.
Meta-analysis of the current evidence regarding moxibustion in treatment for ulcerative colitis concluded that evidence is insufficient to show that moxibustion is an effective treatment. However an evaluation of the efficacy of moxibustion was carried out using smoke and water extracts of Artemisia princeps and it was found that both preparations inhibited the growth of breast cancer cells in vitro.
Source : Wikipedial.org
They can use it indirectly, with acupuncture needles, or sometimes burn it on a patient's skin.
The word moxa comes from Japanese mogusa (艾?,mugwort) (the u is not very strongly enuciated) blended with combustion "burning", hence literally "burning of mugwort". Yomogi (蓬) also serves as a synonym for moxa in Japan. Chinese uses the same character asmogusa, but pronounced differently: ài, also called àiróng (艾絨) (meaning "velvet of ài").
The Chinese character for moxibustion forms one half of the two making up the Chinese word that often gets translated as "acupuncture" zhēnjiǔ (針灸).
Theory and practice
Practitioners use moxa to warm regions and acupuncture points with the intention of stimulating circulation through the points and inducing a smoother flow of blood and qi. It is believed by some, for example at Mugwort (Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine by Clare Hanrahan), that mugwort acts as an emmenagogue, meaning that it stimulates blood-flow in the pelvic area and uterus. It is claimed that moxibustion militates against cold and dampness in the body and can serve to turn breech babies.
Medical historians now believe that moxibustion pre-dated acupuncture, and needling came to supplement moxa after the 2nd century BC. Different schools of acupuncture use moxa in varying degrees. For example, a 5-elements acupuncturist will use moxa directly on the skin, whilst a TCM-style practitioner will use rolls of moxa and hold them over the point treated. It can also be burnt atop a fine slice of ginger root to prevent scarring.
Practitioners consider moxibustion to be especially effective in the treatment of chronic problems, "deficient conditions" (weakness), and gerontology. Bian Que (fl. circa 500 BC), one of the most famous semi-legendary doctors of Chinese antiquity and the first specialist in moxibustion, discussed the benefits of moxa over acupuncture in his classic work. He asserted that moxa could add new energy to the body and could treat both excess and deficient conditions. On the other hand, he advised against the use of acupuncture in an already deficient (weak) patient, on the grounds that needle manipulation would leak too much energy. A huge classical work, Gao Huang Shu (膏肓俞),specialises solely in treatment indications for moxa on a single point (穴). Taoists use scarring moxibustion along with Chinese medical astrology for longevity.
Practitioners may use acupuncture needles made of various materials in combination with moxa, depending on the direction of qi flow they wish to stimulate. Moxibustion can be applied directly, by rolling tiny pellets or beads and burning them directly onto the skin on designated acupoints, or placing the pellets on small circular shields on the skin; or indirectly using sticks that come in two types – a soft, smokey kind with loosely-packed moxa (pictured above), or hard, smokeless kind with compressed moxa that is shorter in length and requires a holder once the burning tip gets close to the fingers holding it. Although the smoke from the soft sticks can be somewhat of an irritant, some practitioners prefer it, believing it to carry special healing properties.
Medical properties
In Traditional Chinese medicine there is a belief that moxibustion of mugwort is effective at increasing the cephalic positioning of fetuses who were in a breech position before the intervention. A 2005 Cochrane review argued that there is "limited evidence" that moxibustion may be useful for in reducing the need for ECV, but there is "insufficient evidence to support the use of moxibustion to correct a breech presentation" due to a lack of well-designed randomised controlled trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of moxibustion. Since it also causes uterine contractions, it has been used to cause abortion. A study of 260 Chinese women at 33 weeks of pregnancy demonstrated cephalic version within two weeks in 75% of fetuses carried by patients who were treated with moxibustion, as opposed to 48% in the control group. It has also been shown that acupuncture plus moxibustion slows fetal heart rates while increasing fetal movement. Two recent studies of Italian patients produced conflicting results. In the first, involving 226 patients, there was cephalic presentation at delivery in 54% of women treated between 33 and 35 weeks with acupuncture and moxibustion, vs. 37% in the control group. The second was terminated prematurely because of poor compliance with treatment, but found no difference between moxibustion and control groups.
Meta-analysis of the current evidence regarding moxibustion in treatment for ulcerative colitis concluded that evidence is insufficient to show that moxibustion is an effective treatment. However an evaluation of the efficacy of moxibustion was carried out using smoke and water extracts of Artemisia princeps and it was found that both preparations inhibited the growth of breast cancer cells in vitro.
Source : Wikipedial.org
