Chinese Medicine Net

You Need Moxie to Try Moxibustion (A)

Burning mugwort in moxibustion heat therapy is one of the oldest forms of Chinese traditional medicine and is used to stimulate the flow of qi and maintain general health. It especially dispels cold and dampness.

By focusing heat on acupressure points, it can treat aches and pains and is even known to relieve menstrual cramps.

Traditionally it meant burning moxa - mugwort and other herbs - directly on the skin over acupressure points. Because of pain, burning and even scarring, this method is seldom used. Sometimes the burning moxa can be placed on a piece of ginger, salt or other compound - carefully, by a skilled practitioner, so that it heats but does not burn.

Today, indirect moxibustion involves burning a moxa stick an inch or more above the skin, or combining moxibustion with acupuncture. In this method, an acupuncture needle is inserted and heated by burning moxa - thus the heat is conducted through the needle into the body.

All moxibustion involves burning mugwort (artemesia vulgaris), a small, spongy herb, compounded with other herbs, depending on requirements. Mugwort, the herbal essence of moxibustion, is fabled worldwide for warding off the evil eye and maintaining health.

Moxibustion dates back to the Western Zhou Dynasty (c.11th century-770BC). The Chinese characters for acupuncture zhen jiu, which translated literally means “acupuncture-moxibustion.”

Since the two therapies share a similar purpose, improving the flow of energy, they were often used in pairs. However, moxibustion has its own special benefits.

“Both acupuncture and moxibustion aim to unblock the energy channels and thus stimulate the energy flow, yet moxibustion is more effective in dispelling coldness and dampness while warming the meridians. This is due to the characteristics of mugwort, the raw material of moxa,” says Cao Yinyan, the chairman of Yinyan Indirect Moxibustion Health Resort. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: dampness, dispel cold, moxa, Moxibustion, moxie, Qi, Therapy, warm needle, wen zhen

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Acupuncture Insomnia Cures Are Available

When sleep is elusive and the effects are being felt, people go down all kinds of roads to find a solution. One of the most interesting and perhaps beneficial ways to tackle insomnia is to consider ancient, alternative medicine. One such cure is acupuncture insomnia treatment. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Acupuncture, Insomnia

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Foot Massages

Foot massages are also known as reflexology and were mainly practiced by Chinese therapists. In this kind of massage, therapists believe that each spot on the sole of the foot corresponds to an internal organ, and by applying pressure on these points one can not only heal a patient but can also augment overall well-being. Reflexology is based on the theory that an ailment of an internal organ is associated with the nerve ending on the sole of the foot, and according to this theory a healthy patient should not feel any strong pain when pressure is applied on the sole. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: foot, Massage, relfexology, Therapy

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Cupping Therapy For Eczema

Evelyn Lim have a couple of subscribers to her regular eczema newsletter writing to her about Cupping therapy. Their Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners have advised them to try out Cupping therapy for eczema as part of their holistic treatment. While it is too early to report if the therapy has helped them, she proceeded to find out more about this practically unknown (at least to most of us) form of treatment. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: cupping, eczema, Therapy

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Chinese Medicine For Curing Insomnia Naturally

The modern practice of traditional Chinese medicine brings together many thousands of years of medicine practiced in China including the use of Chinese medicine for curing insomnia naturally. The term ‘traditional Chinese medicine’ is a relatively modern term first used by the People’s Republic of China during the 1950s when the country was attempting to build a substantial export trade for its time honored medicines and practices. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Chinese Medicine, insomnial, natural

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