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{{Alternative medicine sidebar}} Moxibustion ({{zh|c=|p=jiÇ”}}) is a traditional Chinese medicine therapy which consists of burning dried mugwort ((wikt:moxa|moxa)) on particular points on the body. It plays an important role in the traditional medical systems of China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Mongolia. Suppliers usually age the mugwort and grind it up to a fluff; practitioners burn the fluff or process it further into a cigar-shaped stick. They can use it indirectly, with acupuncture needles, or burn it on the patient's skin.Moxibustion is promoted as a treatment for a wide variety of conditions, but its use is not backed by good evidence and it carries a risk of adverse effects.

Terminology

The first Western remarks on moxibustion can be found in letters and reports written by Portuguese missionaries in 16th-century Japan. They called it botão de fogo ({{literal|fire button}}), a term originally used for round-headed Western cautery irons. Hermann Buschoff, who published the first Western book on this matter in 1674 (English edition 1676), used the Japanese pronunciation mogusa. As the u is not very strongly enunciated, he spelled it "Moxa". Later authors blended "Moxa" with the Latin word combustio ("burning").JOURNAL, Far Eastern Medicine in Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Century Germany, Wolfgang Michel, Wolfgang Michel, Gengo Bunka Ronkyū, Kyushu University, Faculty of Languages and Cultures, 20, 2005, 67–82, 1341-0032, 2324/2878, BOOK, English Translation of Traditional Chinese Medicine: Theory and Practice, Li Zhaoguo, 2013, 11, 978-7-5426-4084-0, The name of the herb Artemisia (mugwort) species used to produce Moxa is called ài or àicǎo (, ) in ChineseThere is a great variety of further Chinese names (bingtai 、ecao 、xiang'ai 、qiai 、aihao 、jiucao ﹑yicao ﹑huangcao ﹑airong ) and yomogi () in Japan.The Chinese names for moxibustion are jiǔ ( ) or jiǔshù ( ); the Japanese use the same characters and pronounce them as kyū and kyūjutsu. In Korean the reading is tteum (). Korean folklore attributes the development of moxibustion to the legendary emperor Dangun.BOOK, 262, Needham, J, Joseph Needham, Lu GD, 2002, Celestial lancets: a history and rationale of acupuncture and moxa, Routledge, 0-7007-1458-8, Tteum (moxibustion).jpg|a Korean set of tteumTteum (moxibustion) 2.jpg|application of tteum on the back of a handMoxa-samples-from-Japan.jpg|Samples of Japanese Moxa. Left to right: processed mugwort (1st stage); processed mugwort (2nd stage); coarse Moxa for indirect moxibustion; usual quality for indirect and direct moxibustion; superior quality for direct moxibustion.Ibuki moxa set.jpg|Traditional moxibustion set from Maibara (Japan)Stick-on-moxa-rolls-japan.jpg|Stick–on moxa (left) and moxa rolls (right) used for indirect moxa heat treatment. The stick-on moxa is a modern product sold in Japan, Korea, and China. Usually the base is self-adhesive to the treatment point.

Theory and practice

Practitioners use moxa to warm regions and meridian pointsNot all acupuncture points can be used for moxibustion. A few of them are preferred in both classical literature and modern research: Zusanli (ST-36), Dazhui (GV-14). with the intention of stimulating circulation through the points and inducing a smoother flow of blood and qi. Some believe it can treat conditions associated with the "cold" or "yang deficiencies" in Chinese Medicine.WEB,weblink Moxibustion | Chinese Medicine, It is claimed that moxibustion mitigates against cold and dampness in the body, and can be used to treat lymphedema following intrapelvic lymph node dissection,JOURNAL, Kanakura, Y, Niwa, K, Kometani, K, Nakazawa, K, Yamaguchi, Y, Ishikawa, H, Watanabe, A, Tokunaga, Y, 2002, Effectiveness of acupuncture and moxibustion treatment for lymphedema following intrapelvic lymph node dissection: a preliminary report, The American Journal of Chinese Medicine, 30, 1, 37–43, 10.1142/S0192415X02000041, 12067095, and help turn breech babies.JOURNAL, Coyle, M E, Smith, C, Peat, B, 2023-05-09, Cephalic version by moxibustion for breech presentation, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2023, 5, CD003928, 10.1002/14651858.CD003928.pub4, 1469-493X, 37158339, 10167788, Practitioners claim moxibustion to be especially effective in the treatment of chronic problems, "deficient conditions" (weakness), and gerontology. Bian Que (fl. circa 500 BCE), 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 Bian Que Neijing. He asserted that moxa could add new energy to the body and could treat both excess and deficient conditions.Practitioners may use acupuncture needles made of various materials in combination with moxa, depending on the direction of qi flow they wish to stimulate.There are several methods of moxibustion. Three of them are direct scarring, direct non-scarring, and indirect moxibustion. Direct scarring moxibustion places a small cone of moxa on the skin at an acupuncture point and burns it until the skin blisters, which then scars after it heals. Direct non-scarring moxibustion removes the burning moxa before the skin burns enough to scar, unless the burning moxa is left on the skin too long. Indirect moxibustion holds a cigar made of moxa near the acupuncture point to heat the skin, or holds it on an acupuncture needle inserted in the skin to heat the needle.WEB,weblink Moxibustion, Acupuncture Today, Acupuncturetoday.com, 2011-05-17, There is also stick-on moxa.Chuanwu lingji lu (the Record of Sovereign Teachings), by Zhang Youheng, was a treatise on acu-moxa completed in 1869 and featuring several colour illustrations of the points on the body where moxa could be applied to treat the complaint.File:C19 Chinese MS moxibustion point chart; Cervix point Wellcome L0039501.jpg|The cervix point was used to treat retained placenta and intrauterine death.File:C19 Chinese MS moxibustion point chart; Neiting Wellcome L0039489.jpg|The Neiting point was used to remedy retrograde cold (jueni) in the limbs; aversion to noise; profuse breakout of pox; painful, inflamed throats; unremitting toothache; yawning and somnolence; lack of appetite for food and drink; tinnitus (lit. cricket chirp [chanming] in the ear); ague (nüeji), etc.File:C19 Chinese MS moxibustion point chart; Yanglingquan Wellcome L0039497.jpg|The Yanglingquan point was used pain and swelling in the feet and knees; wind-cold-damp blockage disease (bi); one-sided paralysis; heavy, aching feeling in the back, making it difficult to sit or stand; facial oedema (fuzhong); distention and feeling of fullness (zhangman) in the chest, etc.File:C19 Chinese MS moxibustion point chart; Taichong Wellcome L0039494.jpg|The Taichong point was indicated for acute and chronic infantile convulsions (lit. wind fright, jingfeng); epilepsy (dianxian) and spasms; sore throat; distention and feeling of fullness (zhangman) in the chest and sides; cold-damp beri-beri (jiaoqi); difficulty in walking; hernia (shanqi); dim vision; backache, etc.File:C19 Chinese MS moxibustion point chart; Malign attack Wellcome L0039507.jpg|The zhong 'e point was targeted for corpse infection (shizhu) and inimical visitation (kewu), malign attack (zhong 'e) [forms of demonic possession], etc. Moxibustion takes place on the left for male patients and the right for female patients.File:C19 Chinese MS moxibustion point chart; Scrofula point Wellcome L0039512.jpg|Scrofula was to be treated at the point where it occurred, with garlic-partition moxibustion (gesuan jiufa).

Uses and effectiveness

Most research into moxibustion comes from China and is generally of low quality.BOOK, Ernst E, Edzard Ernst, Springer, Alternative Medicine – A Critical Assessment of 150 Modalities, 978-3-030-12600-1, 10.1007/978-3-030-12601-8, 2019, 182–183, 34148480, Claims are made for its effectiveness for a wide variety of conditions, with some practitioners promoting it as a panacea.

Pregnancy

There is some evidence to suggest that moxibustion, when included along with other procedures that are usual to care for a person who is at risk of a breech birth, may decrease the chances that the baby presents in the breech position and may decrease the chances of a person requiring oxytocin to help labour start or progress. This evidence is considered to be of the "moderate" level of certainty by a 2023 Cochrane Systematic Review, however, the safety profile was not clear in these studies as adverse effects were not well considered or properly reported. In addition, the need or role of turning the baby by performing an external cephalic version to prevent a breech birth along with these treatments is not known. There is no evidence that moxibustion, when combined with standard care practices, helps reduce the risk of a person requiring a caesarean section. It is also not clear if there are any benefits for preventing early membrane ruptures or a protective effect on the umbilical cord blood pH level.

Other

Moxibustion has also been studied for the treatment of pain,JOURNAL, Lee, Myeong Soo, Choi, Tae-Young, Kang, Jung Won, Lee, Beom-Joon, Ernst, Edzard, 2010, Moxibustion for Treating Pain: A Systematic Review, The American Journal of Chinese Medicine, 38, 5, 829–38, 10.1142/S0192415X10008275, 20821815, 8383035, cancer,JOURNAL, Lee, Myeong Soo, Choi, Tae-Young, Park, Ji-Eun, Lee, Song-Shil, Ernst, Edzard, 2010, Moxibustion for cancer care: A systematic review and meta-analysis, BMC Cancer, 10, 130, 10.1186/1471-2407-10-130, 2873382, 20374659, free, stroke,JOURNAL, Lee, M. S., Shin, B.-C., Kim, J.-I., Han, C.-h., Ernst, E., 2010, Moxibustion for Stroke Rehabilitation: Systematic Review, Stroke, 41, 4, 817–20, 10.1161/STROKEAHA.109.566851, 20150551, free, ulcerative colitis,JOURNAL, Lee, Dong-Hyo, Kim, Jong-In, Lee, Myeong Soo, Choi, Tae-Young, Choi, Sun-Mi, Ernst, Edzard, 2010, Moxibustion for ulcerative colitis: A systematic review and meta-analysis, BMC Gastroenterology, 10, 36, 10.1186/1471-230X-10-36, 2864201, 20374658, free, constipation,JOURNAL, Lee, Myeong Soo, Choi, Tae-Young, Park, Ji-Eun, Ernst, Edzard, 2010, Effects of moxibustion for constipation treatment: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials, Chinese Medicine, 5, 28, 10.1186/1749-8546-5-28, 2922210, 20687948, free, and hypertension.JOURNAL, Kim, Jong-In, Choi, Jun-Yong, Lee, Hyangsook, Lee, Myeong Soo, Ernst, Edzard, 2010, Moxibustion for hypertension: A systematic review, BMC Cardiovascular Disorders, 10, 33, 10.1186/1471-2261-10-33, 2912786, 20602794, free, Systematic reviews have found that these studies are of low quality and positive findings could be due to publication bias.JOURNAL, Lee, Myeong Soo, Kang, Jung Won, Ernst, Edzard, 2010, Does moxibustion work? An overview of systematic reviews, BMC Research Notes, 3, 284, 10.1186/1756-0500-3-284, 2987875, 21054851, free,

Adverse effects

Moxibustion carries a risk of adverse effects including burns and infection. Some side effects that have been reported include nausea, throat irritation, and abdominal pain from contractions when used in pregnancy.

Parallel uses of mugwort

Mugwort amongst other herbs was often bound into smudge sticks. The Chumash people from southern California have a similar ritual.BOOK, Chumash Ethnobotany: Plant Knowledge among the Chumash People of Southern California, Timbrook, Janice, 2007, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, 978-1-59714-048-5, {{page needed|date=February 2015}} Europeans placed sprigs of mugwort under pillows to provoke dreams; and the herb had associations with the practice of magic in Anglo-Saxon times.JOURNAL, Knight, Katherine, 2002-01-01, A Precious Medicine: Tradition and Magic in Some Seventeenth-Century Household Remedies, Folklore, 113, 2, 237–247, 10.1080/0015587022000015347, 162291104, 0015-587X,

See also

• {{Annotated link|Acupuncture}}
  • {{Annotated link|Fire needle acupuncture}}
• {{Annotated link|Cupping therapy}}
• {{Annotated link|Traditional Chinese medicine}}
• {{Annotated link|Jieba}}
• {{annotated link|Electric moxa}}

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category|Moxibustion}}{{wiktionary}}

• W Michel: Far Eastern Medicine in Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Century Germany
• Hermann Buschoff, The gout, more narrowly searcht, and found out; together with the certain cure thereof. London 1676. W Michel ed. Fukuoka, March 2003. (Japanese introduction by the editor, English text)

{{Traditional Medicine}}{{Authority control}}