Moxibustion

Moxibustion is a traditional Chinese medicine technique that involves the burning of mugwort, artemesia vulgaris, above the skin. Moxibustion has been used for thousands of years and has been used to strengthen the quality of blood and stimulate blood flow to initiate healing and maintain general health.

How does moxibustion work?

There are two types of moxibustion: direct and indirect. Direct moxibustion, is the practice of rolling the moxa into a small rice shaped bead. This bead is then placed onto smudge of salve on an acupuncture point and burned. We are careful to extinguish or removed the moxa before it burns the skin. Indirect moxibustion utilizes a cigar like tube of moxa which is burned 1-2 inches above over the skin.

Regardless the form of moxibustion, the patient experiences a gentle heating sensation that penetrates deep into the skin. The patient should never experience any pain or blistering. Most people find moxibustion to be a pleasant sensation.

What is moxibustion used for?

Moxibustion is used when a patient feels cold, or when increased blood flow is necessary to facilitate healing. The burning of moxa expels the cold and warms the blood, which leads to an increase in circulation. This increase in circulation promotes healing by bringing fresh, oxygenated blood to the site of an injury. Moxibustion is also used to turn breech babies into a normal head-down position prior to childbirth! Women with breech presentation should begin therapy around week 34 of their pregnancy. A study published in 1998 in the Journal of the American Medical Association stated that around 70% of women with breech presentation fetuses before labor had babies that rotated to normal position after moxibustion treatments!

Links

Many links with more moxibustion information:

http://www.ancientway.com/Pages/Moxabustion.html

http://www.docmisha.com/understanding/moxibustion/

http://www.balfourhealing.com/moxi.html

http://www.itmonline.org/arts/moxibustion.htm

Breech birth treatment information:

http://www.birthinternational.com/articles/andrea13.html