Indigenous Knowledge Systems: Practices in Modern-Day China
David R. Katerere, Wendy Applequist, Oluwaseyi M. Aboyade, Chamunorwa Togo in Traditional and Indigenous Knowledge for the Modern Era, 2019
Moxibustion consists of burning dried mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) on particular points on the body. Artemisia species are herbs used to produce Moxa, in Chinese called “Ai”. There are two types of moxibustion: direct and indirect. In direct moxibustion, a small, cone-shaped amount of moxa is placed on top of an acupuncture point and burned. In indirect moxibustion, a practitioner lights one end of a moxa stick, roughly the shape and size of a cigar, and holds it close to the area being treated for several minutes until the area turns red. Indirect moxibustion is currently the more popular form of care because there is a much lower risk of pain or burning. Burning moxa produces a great deal of smoke and a pungent odor that is often confused with that of cannabis. The purpose of moxibustion is to warm and invigorate the blood, stimulate the flow of Qi, strengthen the kidney Yang, expel wind and disperse cold, and dissolve stagnation. Historically, this therapy had been used to treat menstrual pain. Generally, moxibustion is applied in “cold syndrome,” deficient conditions, and chronic diseases (Li, 2013). Moxibustion may be used in combination with acupuncture or separately to effect a treatment.
Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture
Aruna Bakhru in Nutrition and Integrative Medicine, 2018
Acupuncture is a healing art that employs Chinese medicine theory, especially Meridian Theory, to insert needles into acupoints, specific points on the body, accompanied with manipulation and/or stimulation with pressure, heat, light, or electricity. In recent years, new acupuncture treatment principles have developed based on anatomical structure, such as dry needling. Despite its similarity to Ashi Point Puncture, which has been used for thousands of years, dry needling is a standalone method and also belongs under acupuncture's scope of practice. The original modality was called “acupuncture and moxibustion.” Moxibustion, also known as moxa, is the application of burning mugwort toward acupuncture points on the body, either individually or in addition to acupuncture needles. Since the burning herb creates smoke, it is restricted in office buildings with central air conditioning and fire alarm systems.
The medical traditions of India and China
Lois N. Magner, Oliver J. Kim in A History of Medicine, 2017
Drug lore, herbal medicine, and magical practices are essentially universal aspects of traditional and ancient medical systems. Chinese medicine is unique, however, in the development of the techniques known as acupuncture and moxibustion, and the sophisticated rationalizations that justified these practices. Acupuncture is the art of inserting needles at specific points on the surface of the body. Moxa or moxibustion is performed by applying burning tinder made from the powdered leaves of Artemisia vulgaris (mugwort or wormwood) to specific points on the skin. Acupuncture has attained considerable notoriety and a degree of acceptance in the West, but moxibustion has been largely ignored. Although moxibustion may produce burns and scars, practitioners claim that the pain is not an unpleasant pain. Skeptics, however, find it difficult to imagine a burn associated with a pleasant pain.
Warm acupuncture therapy alleviates neuronal apoptosis after spinal cord injury via inhibition of the ERK signaling pathway
Published in The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 2023
Li-Li-Qiang Ding, Song-Feng Hu, Xing-Wei He, Peng Zhang, Fen-Fen Zhao, Li-Hong Cheng, Bing-Lin Huang, Ting-Ping Liu, Qin Zhang, Fan He, Sha-Sha Hu, Ya-Jing Zhang, Ying Yu, Peng Xiong, Chang-Kang Wang
Although alternative complementary medicine acupuncture and moxibustion have been used to treat SCI in clinical, the underlying mechanism is unclear. Acupuncture is a therapy method of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) used to treat and prevent diseases by penetrating the needles to stimulate certain special places (acupoints) on the body. Moxibustion is also a therapy of TCM through applying burning moxa to stimulate the human body surface, which is always combined with acupuncture to promote a curative effect. Warm acupuncture (WA) therapy is the combination therapy of acupuncture and moxibustion that burn moxa to stimulate the acupoints that have been penetrated with the needles in order to promote the therapeutic effect. Electroacupuncture is another way to promote the therapeutic effect of acupuncture by connecting save pulse voltage to the needle handle. Studies showed that electroacupuncture combined with moxibustion could promote the proliferation of nerve cells and accelerate the improvement of motor function in SCI.11,12 Another study has demonstrated that electroacupuncture diminishes the brain neuronal apoptosis of ischemic stroke rats through the intervention of the ERK/JNK/p38 signal pathway.13 However, the effect and mechanism of the WA therapy are rarely studied.
Effects and safety of fire needle adjuvant chemical peels therapy in acne vulgaris: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Published in Journal of Dermatological Treatment, 2023
Jianfeng Zhang, Peng Lin, Chenqi Guo, Cong Ma, Yiting Liu, Yingdong Wang, Yu Zhang
In the TCM theory, the heat accumulation in Fei (Lung) and Wei (Stomach), blood stasis, dampness and emotional disorder are etiologic and pathogenic factors for acne (45). Fire needle therapy can achieve the functions of both acupuncture and moxibustion (46). On the one hand, acupuncture stimulation can enhance qi and blood circulation to stimulate healthy qi generation. Abundant healthy qi exerts a critical function in eliminating the harmful conditions of AV. On the other hand, the warm stimulation of moxibustion plays the roles of drawing out poison and purging heat, thus achieving the purposes of Qingre Qushi and Quxie Jiedu (47). According to basic experimental studies, fire needle therapy can enhance the repair ability of local skin lesions, and its mechanism may be related to enhancing the function of phagocytes. Moreover, it can also accelerate the healing of damaged wounds by stimulating the release of various growth factors such as VEGF in the body (48,49). Therefore, fire needle adjuvant chemical peels therapy is an advisable treatment option.
Acupuncture combined with moxibustion promote the recovery of spinal cord injury in correlation with Shh/Gli-1 signaling pathway
Published in The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 2022
Li-Li-Qiang Ding, Song-Feng Hu, Xing-Wei He, Peng Zhang, Fen-Fen Zhao, Ting-Ping Liu, Qin Zhang, Fan He, Ying Yu, Peng Xiong, Chang-Kang Wang
Acupuncture and moxibustion have been widely used in clinical practice as an alternative complementary medicine. According to the traditional Chinese medicine theory of Zang-fu organs and meridians, the pathological change of SCI could be explained by “Governor Vessel” injury.12 “Governor Vessel” is a circulation meridian in the back that position is coincides with spinal cord. Therefore we chose the acupoints located in “Governor Vessel” such as Dazhui (GV14) and Jiaji points (T7-T12) and Yaoyangguan (GV3) to promote the recovery of meridian function. Zusanli (ST36) and Ciliao (BL32) could promote the blood circulation and muscle function recovery. Acupuncture is the use of needle stab into skin to stimulate the acupoints, while moxibustion is the use of infrared light and heat generated by combustion of folium artemisiae argyi to stimulate the acupoints. Acupuncture and moxibustion can enhance the stimulation effect of each other. Generally, acupuncture and moxibustion are used together in clinic to obtain better curative effect.