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. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘Therapy’
Cupping Therapy For Eczema
Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008Moxibustion Therapy Brief
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008Guidelines for using Moxa.
Moxa is a plant (Artemisia argyi Folium) that is used as a heat source to stimulate acupuncture points. Although acupuncture is better known in the West, moxibustion has also been used in traditional treatments for over 2000 years in China and is in fact the second part of the name for acupuncture in the Chinese language (zhen jiu, literally “needle moxaâ€).
The moxa you have been given as part of your treatment is in the form of a moxa stick and has been compressed into a cigar-like roll that makes it ideal for use at home. Before using moxa you will need to prepare the following:
• A cigarette lighter.
• A small ceramic or glass dish to place any ash in that may form on the moxa stick during treatment
• A small towel to place under the area being treated in case any ash is dropped.
• A glass screw-top jar to extinguish the moxa when the treatment is finished. (more…)
You Need Moxie to Try Moxibustion (A)
Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008
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. (more…)
Foot Massages
Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008
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. (more…)
One-to-One Herbal Tea Therapy
Friday, December 14th, 2007
 Chinese herbs are used by Chinese doctors to restore the body’s natural balance of YIN and YANG. They include natural substances such as flowers, leaves, stalks, seeds and roots of various plants. Each herb has its specific healing properties and their function is often described like ‘warming and invigorating’, ‘‘cooling and calming’ or more specifically, ‘removing Damp form the spleen‘, or ‘cooling Heat in the Stomach‘. (more…)