Recently, I am going to specifically study moxibustion. Here I list some of my superficial questions for consultation during the study period. Everyone can also raise questions, no matter how difficult or easy. Raising questions helps us all progress together
My Questions:
Isn’t moxibustion just holding a moxa stick and burning it there? What are the difficulties? One is the moxa stick formula, the second is syndrome differentiation and acupuncture point selection, what else?
How to identify good quality moxa wool?
Does smokeless moxibustion significantly reduce effectiveness? Even if it is less effective, can it be compromised for the sake of no smoke? Or is the effect so much worse that it’s better not to use it at all?
How to deal with people who are injured by excessive moxibustion and suffer from Yin deficiency? The general principle of nourishing Yin is quite vague; is there any tested, effective, and quick method?
Two specific cases: my mother’s bi syndrome and my classmate’s eczema
Questions from Others
In the syndrome differentiation system of moxibustion, what is the pathogenesis of goiter? (Internal medicine typically starts from liver qi stagnation, blood stasis, etc.) How is it treated? Once the mechanism and treatment method are understood, other similar diseases can be addressed as well (thyroid nodules, breast nodules, and ovarian cysts in internal medicine have similarities)—Question from 关于灸法的问题 - #4，来自 王白水
The ideas about thyroid nodules, breast nodules, and ovarian cysts come from Teacher Li Naiqing. For those interested, relevant literature can be consulted in detail.
Look at @岐路漫’s article today; there are indeed techniques involved that need to be learned. It’s not just about blindly holding the moxibustion there. This is what distinguishes a doctor from a moxibustion cup. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/_vK8_m61bm6-XBo_Mma8jg
Q: How does moxibustion treat thyroid enlargement?
Q: The correlation between moxibustion duration and specific major disease categories → e.g., I previously felt very fatigued after about 30 minutes of self-moxibustion and don’t know the cause or how to address it.
I think this can be extended to ask, within the moxibustion syndrome differentiation system, what is the pathogenesis of thyroid swelling? (Internal medicine generally starts from liver qi stagnation, blood stasis, etc.) And how is it treated?
Other diseases under this mechanism can also be understood together (in internal medicine, thyroid nodules, breast nodules, and ovarian cysts share similarities).
Is there a particular time for performing moxibustion? Can it be done at any time? How to maximize the effects while correctly selecting the acupuncture points?
Previously, I had a deficiency in my spleen and thought about moxibusting Zusanli and the like to nourish myself. However, after moxibustion, I actually felt even weaker. Later, upon reflection, there was the suspicion that the moxibustion time was too long, but there are also some other reasons I don’t know yet, so I don’t know how to balance the relationship between the related symptoms and the duration of the moxibustion.
Moxibustion in the evening is actually okay too. If you follow the Ziwu Liu Zhu (the traditional time flow in Chinese medicine) I once had acute stomach pain, and the teacher did moxibustion on Shenque at midnight, and it got better in half an hour.
During previous rotations, I observed that diseases caused by actual cold or deficiency cold are treated with moxibustion or health-preserving moxibustion on Zusanli (ST36). Besides these two, what other conditions is moxibustion suitable for? If a person frequently sweats, dislikes heat, and likes to drink cold water, would using moxibustion worsen the heat inside their body? For an ordinary person who regularly uses moxibustion for health preservation, is there a risk of damaging yin?
This issue should have many influencing factors. I will ask about the specifics directly then: Why does moxibustion on Zusanli make one increasingly fatigued?
Overdoing moxibustion can harm yin, but specific situations need to be analyzed individually.
My mom was brainwashed by a moxibustion center for a while and was doing moxibustion for several hours every day, keen on sweating a lot to “expel evil.” After about half a year, she developed constipation . I told her to reduce the frequency, and then it got better.
According to my inherent impression, moxibustion would worsen heat, but @Qilu Man mentioned in this article
What I personally admire most about Teacher Luo’s moxibustion method is that he has a set of techniques in it, not the rigid suspended moxibustion.
There is also syndrome differentiation, with both tonifying and reducing methods, and it can even treat heat syndromes. Using moxibustion to reduce heat surpasses my original understanding.
Therefore, I think I can revise my opinion, but specifically what kind of heat can be treated by moxibustion requires further consultation. I suppose formulas like Baihu Tang, which involve heavy heat, probably cannot be used https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/_vK8_m61bm6-XBo_Mma8jg
Today I listened to the teacher’s lecture, indeed, these kinds of gynecological nodular diseases are caused by liver qi stagnation. By combining moxibustion, exercise, and emotional adjustment, they will naturally be resolved.
I once had acute stomach pain, and the teacher did moxibustion on Shenque at midnight, and it got better in half an hour.
, stopping the pain is the most important thing in this situation.