Edinburgh Natural Health Centre

Moxibustion In Edinburgh

Moxa

China is a big country, not far off the size of Canada or Europe. Its North and West is cold. The South and East is warm, and very humid at times. South East Asia doesn't have hurricanes, they have tornados.

China's population was estimated at 1,321 Million in 2007, Europe's at 728 million, and Canada's only 33 million (all of them very resourceful and hard-working of course!). The UK has about 60 million at the last count. So there are a lot of Chinese and over their history they have produced some brilliant minds - and some extraoridnary ways of doing things that we may find very strange.

We may think chopsticks are strange. They probably thought that knives and forks were a bit odd.

In the course of history, many ways of treating disease and preserving good health have been invented. To combat cold, the Chinese - especially in the North - developed moxibustion. (It also developed in Tibet and Mongolia and spread to Japan, Vietnam and round the world.)

You can use almost anything to apply moxibustion, but you need something that produces a steady, controllable supply of warmth, without spitting burning embers or spilling ash. No doubt the Chinese tried quite a few different things but the best was Artemesia Chinensis, the Chinese herbal equivalent of the European Artemesia vulgaris, or what we know as mugwort, a species of wormwood. This, once dried and ground down, seems to burn just right.

When you buy moxa 'punk' or 'floss', the raw gound-down material, it comes in various forms, but the basic stuff looks like a rather dense green cotton wool.

We know of enterprising Europeans who have harvested Artemesia vulgaris, dried and ground it, and made European moxa punk. It worked, albeit not quite as well as the Chinese variety, but the cost in terms of time and money to produce it wasn't worth the effort.

So only a few Westerners (most with unnatural glitters in their eyes) make their own: the rest of us get it from China! (But you can be sure that other countries will eventually produce it commercially. Then we can all argue about the relative merits of the different varieties: something to look forward to.)

How is it used?

There are many ways of using it - for instance:

Direct moxibustion: as small or tiny cones, placed on acupuncture points and lit with an incense taper to burn until the patient feels the warmth, when they are replaced: a powerful method of treatment if rather labour intensive. Sometimes garlic or ginger or some other herb is placed between the cones of moxa and the skin, not so much to prevent burning of the skin (because believe it or not that seldom happens) as to impart to the skin the benefit of the herb in question

As bunches of punk wrapped round the head of a needle which has already been inserted into an acupuncture point, so that when the moxa is set alight, as it burns, the heat permeates down the needle into the point

Hand-held, with the moxa punk rolled up in paper into the form of what look like a cigar, lit at one end, which is passed repeatedly, or held, over an area of skin

Placed on a wire mesh inside a box. When lit the moxa builds up a considerable warmth in the box which, when placed over an area like the small of your back, produces a wonderful sensation. People familiar with 'hot stone' therapy will appreciate it as the sensation is close but not exactly the same.

Moxa needling, which isn't much used in the West but is gaining ground, is done by pressing the lighted end of a moxa roll (moxa punk rolled up with paper into a cigar-shaped tube) onto cloth or paper placed directly on the skin so that the heat penetrates very quickly into the acupuncture point

What else goes into the moxa punk?
Only moxa, mostly, but over the centuries herbalists have added herbs to change the nature of the heat, and to enable the patient to benefit from the energy of the herbs in question. Some of the moxa rolls made this way have been shown to contain chemicals that aren't safe. Your acupuncturist will avoid these (if he or she has any sense).

Is the pure moxa smoke safe?
Good question, and one which has been the subject of much anxious thought. Finally the British Acupuncture Council (http://www.acupuncture.org.uk) commissioned some research, the final results of which are now looking for a prestigious publication to be published in, but we can all breathe a sigh of relief.

The research was undertaken by a leading tobacco testing facility in Richmond, Virginia, which had all the apparatus and experience to test for unwelcome chemical compounds.

"The good news is that even assuming very poor dispersal and ventilation, only two of the chemicals in moxa smoke (acrolein and hydroquinone) slightly exceeded some of the safety limits. Under normal circumstances, even the most basic precautions for ventilating a room would reduce the concentration to safe levels." (The Acupuncturist, Sept 2008 p17).

Why is it used?

In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) the causes of disease are many.

One of those causes is cold. Another is what is called deficiency of yang. Cold invades your body when you don't wear enough and are exposed to cold, or your body behaves as if it had been exposed to cold. Cold in the UK often combines with damp and/or wind, which have other effects, but sticking with cold, its effect in the body is to slow the movement of circulating blood, to dry the tissues (because they aren't getting the nourishment they need), to turn them blue or black and to cause pain: usually pain of a stabbing, cutting or cramping nature.

See below for some of the conditions it's used for

How do you know you've had an invasion of cold?
Because you'll feel cold somewhere in your body, you'll probably dislike cold there, moving it will be painful, and your skin will be dry and possibly blue. The pain may improve if you take vigorous exercise - if you can, but it returns later.

And nearly always you'll like warmth on the area; hence moxa.

A story
But it isn't always that simple. When our Director Jonathan Clogstoun-Willmott was working in a Chinese hospital, an elderly woman came in complaining of backache and cystitis. She was old enough to have experienced traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) before World War 2 and she thought her problem was due to invasion of Cold.

She'd been out several days previously with her grandson, and because it was a hot day, she stood under the trees to avoid the sun. It being October, a cold breeze began as she was standing there and her grandson prevailed on her to give him an apple, which she shared. (Apples have a cool energy, in TCM.) She started to feel a little cold and they went home. The next morning she woke up with cystitis - painful to urinate, but with a fairly clear stream of liquid, and backache.

Her doctor (who practised Western medicine) recommended a course of antibiotics (which mostly have a cold energy). She decided these might make her worse, so she came to Jonathan's clinic, where the diagnosis, based on symptoms, the account of what happened, what her tongue looked like and what her pulse showed, agreed with her self-diagnosis - that she was indeed suffering from an invasion of cold in the 'Kidney' and 'Bladder' areas of her system.

So the clinic didn't do acupuncture, instead they did moxibustion on her back and on her legs. She loved it. When she got up her backache had gone and she thought she was better. It was suggested that she return for four more treatments.

She came back the next day for another session, but at the end of it decided she was better and that's the last they saw of her.

Had she taken antibiotics, which it was agreed with her weren't appropriate in her case, she'd have taken them for at least a week and would almost certainly have suffered digestive disturbances such as diarrhoea, and tiredness, which are common amongst antibiotic takers.

The clinic could also have given her warming and 'moving' herbs , to drive out the cold and move the blood. She being an old lady, herbs to strengthen her immune system might also have been added ( to tonify her 'qi') but she'd have had to take the herbs for 5 - 7 days, and she'd have had to pay for the herbs. Moxa was cheaper, and quick.

What conditions is moxa used for?
As mentioned above it's used to treat emptiness or weakness (the technical term is 'vacuity'), coldness, and pain.

Here are just a few of the things it is used for:

• Bedwetting
• Coldness and weakness
• Common cold
• Cough
• Chronic stomach or intestinal diseases
• Eczema - some types
• Frozen shoulder
• Impotence
• Menstrual disorders
• Pain, eg from 'rheumatic' conditions (technically the term in TCM is 'bi', meaning 'blockage')
• Prolapse
• Sciatica
• Some kinds of chronic tiredness
• Wheezing

For some patients where acupuncture isn't suitable, moxa may be ideal, and also on some parts of the body which don't have acupuncture points that are easy or painless to use, such as around the fingers or toes, the palms and soles, or on bony places like the shoulders.

Cautions
Don't use it on yourself until you've been shown how, and had it explained to you whether it is suitable.

We don't use moxa on pregnant women in normal circumstances, nor over open sores, or in what are called 'excess' conditions of yang, which include hypertension (high blood pressure)

It is seldom used on the head or face, and not on the genitals.

In asthma, it has in the past been used very successfully in China (where they have different priorities about safety and appearance) to cure the condition using what is called scarring moxa, which does leave a burn mark on the skin. We don't use this.

If, after being shown how, you use it at home, do it in a well-ventilated room. Make sure you have a means to dowse the moxa and that you adopt suitable fire safety measures.

If you live in rented accommodation, the use of candles may be disallowed by your landlord. Although moxa rolls aren't candles, they resemble them and they burn, so they can be dangerous. Take care.

We suggest you have someone else around when using moxa on yourself. Why? Because if you need moxa, you may not be the best judge of what to do, or how to do it and you may not be experienced. Two heads are better than one, and even if you do it alone, have someone nearby whom you can call, in emergency.

Don't do it on or in bed. Bedclothes quickly catch fire.

Never let children play with moxa. Don't eat it yourself, and don't let children eat the moxa punk. (Though used as a herb, for example in various kinds of tea, it should not be consumed unless you really know what you are doing!) Store it carefully where it can't be reached by small hands or inexperienced minds.

Smell: normal moxa when burned does smell. You must judge for yourself what it reminds you of, but it may elicit unwelcome attention from neighbours and others unless they have been forewarned.

Modern developments
Some manufacturers have produced small carbon pellets or tubes of moxa which are burned just like moxa, and which burn with hardly any smoke or smell. Opinions differ on their benefits.

Consultations
At Moxibustion Edinburgh, part of the Acupuncture Edinburgh Natural Health Centre, moxa is often used, but not normally as a primary therapy. We are more inclined to use acupuncture or herbs, with moxa, than moxa on its own, but as the story (see above) shows about the old lady with backache and cystitis, in appropriate circumstances it can be exactly right on its own.

For an appointment during which we'll listen and take notes of your symptoms, look carefully at your condition, ask questions, look at your tongue, take your pulse and then give you a diagnosis and suggest what we think would be the best treatment for you, please ring us on 0131 346 8186 or 07950-012501.

Cost
We charge at the rate of £45 per half-hour for the consultation. Thereafter we charge £45 per treatment. Please make arrangements to pay by cash or cheque.

Moxa? Moxibustion?
Oh all right. We thought you'd have picked it up by now, but the words mean the same thing, and yes, the word 'moxa' is being used as both a noun and a verb. Hope that sorts it out.