Moxibustion is a traditional Chinese medicine technique that involves the burning of an herb, mugwort also known as artemesia vulgaris or ai ye in Chinese, to warm acupuncture points or meridians.

In traditional Chinese medicine, this warming technique is used on people who have a cold or stagnant condition. The warming of acupuncture points and meridians leads to smoother flow of blood and qi and facilitates healing.

Moxibustion has been used throughout Asia for thousands of years; in fact, the actual Chinese character for acupuncture, translated literally means "acupuncture-moxibustion."

There are two types of moxibustion: direct and indirect.

Direct moxibustion - a small, rice-shaped amount of moxa is placed on top of an acupuncture point and burned. This type of moxibustion is further categorized into two types:

• Scarring moxibustion - moxa is placed on a point, ignited, and allowed to remain on the point until it burns out completely. This may lead to localized blisters and scarring after healing. This type is widely accepted in Asian cultures and not accepted in America.
• Non-scarring moxibustion - the moxa is placed on the point and lit, but is extinguished or removed before it burns the skin. The patient will experience a pleasant heating sensation that penetrates deep into the skin, but should not experience any pain, blistering or scarring.

Indirect moxibustion - currently the more popular
type used because there is a much lower risk of pain or burning. In indirect moxibustion, a practitioner lights one end of a moxa stick, roughly the shape and size of a cigar, and holds it close to the area being treated for several minutes until the area turns red. Another form of indirect moxibustion uses both acupuncture needles and moxa. A needle is inserted into an acupoint and retained. The tip of the needle is then wrapped in moxa and ignited, generating heat to the point and the surrounding area. After the desired effect is achieved, the moxa is extinguished and the needle(s) removed.

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