Moxibustion: Ancient Chinese Secret?

Moxibustion is an ancient Chinese medical practice employed by some practitioners of acupuncture. These practitioners employ an herb known as "moxa" during an acupuncture session in order to warm and improve blood flow to the area being treated. Some claim that this practice is effective in relieving chronic pain, especially arthritis. The practice of moxibustion has been around for thousands of years, but...is it true?

An article in MedPage Today from 2014 cites a study about this very topic. A randomized clinical trial was conducted, involving 110 osteoarthritis patients who were unfamiliar to this type of treatment. It was reported that after six weeks of treatment,three times per week, pain scores were reduced by about half in those who received active treatment. In a similar manner. their physical function difficulty scores also improved greatly!

It is interesting to note that after a certain period of time--around 24 weeks of treatment..no further improvement was noted. A few interesting things to point out about this study:

1) Even though this practice has been around for thousands of years, no one really knows how or why this practice seems to be effective.

2) The authors suggest that a larger scale study is really needed to glean further information the effectiveness of moxibustion.

3)You can read the original story about the moxibustion study by clicking here.

Sources: Medpage today, Wikipedia; flickr

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