14 May 2009

I'll Take All the Help I Can Get





From Acupuncture Today:

Moxibustion

Moxibustion is a traditional Chinese medicine technique that involves the burning of mugwort, a small, spongy herb, to facilitate healing. Moxibustion has been used throughout Asia for thousands of years; in fact, the actual Chinese character for acupuncture, translated literally, means "acupuncture-moxibustion." The purpose of moxibustion, as with most forms of traditional Chinese medicine, is to strengthen the blood, stimulate the flow of qi, and maintain general health.

Indirect moxibustion is currently the more popular form of care 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.

6 Comments:

At 5/14/09, 10:25 AM, Blogger Tony Lewis said...

ACK! NEEDLES!!11!!
Glad you are finding relief and making progress, this side of the dirt is always better...

 
At 5/14/09, 10:47 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Cool. Love the pics.

 
At 5/14/09, 11:18 AM, Blogger David J. Hirsh said...

Wow. Those medial scars really date your orginal injury. Pre- arthroscope, right? Or are they part of the present surgery? If so, you heal well, Sister. FWIW, I started blogging my own knee travail just today.

Also FWIW--I was having agonizing pain, imflammation, and stiffness the day before my wedding and my father-in-law-to-be took me in for accupuncture. Next morning: no swelling, pain, or stiffness. Day after the wedding, members of the wedding party and I climbed portions of Washington's Mount Baker and I did not hold up the bunch!

Best,

David

 
At 5/14/09, 12:05 PM, Blogger Toddy said...

I have zero-balancing which uses the regular, painful moxa technique. Not so bad.

 
At 5/14/09, 12:12 PM, Blogger Surfsister said...

The medial scar, David, is from the original injury in 1980. I have an identical scar on the other side of my knee as well. The scar down the middle is the new one. You can't see the scars from arthroscopic surgery, but they're there too. This knee has served me well even with all of that surgery. I'm glad to be able to bring it back to health with some titanium implants. Now if I could just bend it without wanting to scream and slug someone.

 
At 5/14/09, 6:13 PM, Blogger christian said...

That's so hardcore. I hope it brings you some relief. Kepp on keepin' on.

 

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