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After your acupuncturist has inserted needles into carefully chosen points in your body, he proceeds to put blobs of moxa on the top end of the inserted needles and then lights each one up. The ensuing warmth then penetrates deep into your body, rejuvenating your energy levels and relaxing your muscles.
As the needles cool down, it was as if the concerns and stresses that had been bottled up inside you had melted away.
After getting regular monthly treatments, you will notice that when the needles are lit, you’ll immediately be aware that you’re feeling a different type of heat that gets close to getting unbearably hot.
The reason for this is that your body is now much better and your energy levels are almost at a maximum. You may then recall the first time you received moxibustion, you were feeling so damp and cold inside that it took a few lumps of moxa on the needle for you to feel any warmth at all.
Being a major component of Traditional Chinese Medicine, moxibustion is a treatment that uses moxa derived from the weed, mugwort. This mugwort is matured and then turned into a fluff which practitioners turn into cones or squeeze into a ball.
There are then placed directly on the acupuncture point or on the tip of a needle and then burned to generate deeply penetrating and nourishing warmth.
The moxa can be turned into cigar shaped sticks that when burned can be used to warm larger areas of a patient’s body. Essentially, moxibustion is the deep heat therapy of Chinese Medicine.
When combined with acupuncture, direct moxibustion therapy makes the healing effect of acupuncture more powerful. In Chinese medicine, this is known as tonification. The extra heat generated is especially useful for people weakened by energy depletion or for people who are feeling run down.
The heat from the moxa has a stimulating effect on the body that helps improve blood flow. In Chinese medicine, this is known as dispersal, which means the flow of energy and blood is dispersed. Moxibustion is also quite effective for treating problems related to women. The mugwort herb is considered an emmenagogue, which is anything the increases the flow of blood to the uterus and pelvic region and hence is particularly useful for menstrual and gynecological conditions.
Moxibustion therapy creates a dry comfortable heat that helps remove cold and dampness in the body, relieving pain and aches and protecting aging joints that can help prevent arthritis and rheumatism in older people.