Moxa for hotflashes
forum post
I've come across a study showing that moxa greatly reduced hotflashes occurrences as well as severity of hotflashes.
Does anyone have details on what points would be the most beneficial for moxa use? If you could please post the acupoints as well as the source of the data, I'd appreciate it.
This post has the following associations:
Issues/Symptoms: hot flashes
Acupoints: cv 4, cv 6, cv 12, gv 4, kd 6, sp 6, st 36, ub 23
Comments / Discussions:
comment by "ChadD" (acupuncturist)
on Jan 2011
Moxibustion generally would not be my first choice for most types of hot flashes. If you read the acupuncture for menopause section you will see some of the more common patterns which lead to hot flashes. For some of these moxa could be helpful and for others (strong yin deficiency) it wouldn't be my first choice. That said, moxa on SP 6, KD 6, and/or CV 4 would be the most used points in cases where it is appropriate. Personally I tend to use acupuncture, tuina and herbal medicine for hot flashes (the most common formulas are listed on our hot flashes section). For the wrong person (and with the wrong points) moxibustion could very well make hot flashes worse, so I certainly wouldn't use it across the board.
comment by "ChadD" (acupuncturist)
on Jan 2011
I took a look at the study you mentioned. It was done by a group of South Korean researchers. If you read the study they had two different groups - one group they used CV 4, CV 12, ST 36, and SP 6 points that "improve physical function and gynecological disease", the other group used GV 4, UB 23, CV 4, and CV 6 drawn from other works on treatment gynecological conditions. The results were a reduction from 40-60% with no incredible difference between the two treatment groups.
They used indirect moxibustion. "Four weeks of treatment was given, with four treatments per week during the first 2 weeks and three treatments per week thereafter. Five moxibustion capsules were used at each point in a single session. The moxibustion we used is formulated as a disposable adhesive (Kangwha minimoxa, Ewahdang, Seoul, South Korea), and it is composed of a moxa pillar that is attached to the base of the device. The total length of the moxibustion device is 25 mm, of which 18 mm constitutes the moxa pillar."
I still stand by what I said earlier - this wouldn't be my first choice and personally I think you can do better than a 40-60% improvement rate with other options. For cases that do not respond, however, it may be worth some further testing.
comment by "archived-user"
on Jan 2011
Yes, moxa is not good for hot flash, for acupuncture proposal is sooth Chong & Ren meridians, cool down blood heat, points: Li11, Ren3, Sp10, Kd5, + Lv2 or Kd2, if she has liver fire or Kidney yin deficient.
comment by "greendao"
on Jan 2011
I guess I wasn't very diligent looking for more details (other links) of the study. The description I had come across didn't list the points, which prompted me to ask my question here.
Thank you for your answer and your advice.
The reason I was looking to do moxa is that my client exhibits many symptoms SP Yang and KI Yang deficiency and was very responsive to moxa (one session up to now). Since she's going through menopause and experiences quite severe hotflashes during the night and when I saw the study about moxa helping for hotflashes, I wanted to find out more.
Thanks again.
comment by "greendao"
on Jan 2011
comment by "Helene_Labrecqu"
on Feb 2011
hot flashes are ok they protect the woman from breast cancer. you have to get used to them and live with them. a good alimentation, exercise and sexual relationships will help.
comment by "ChadD" (acupuncturist)
on Feb 2011
I couldn't disagree more. While it is true that hot flashes are part of a process (although far from everyone has them, particularly when you look cross-culturally) from a Chinese Medicine perspective they are most often indicative of yin deficiency. While there was one good sized study that showed some level of possibility of "protection" from breast cancer in women who have breast cancer - a proper way to read the study is that it is saying it is about estrogen levels, not about having strong menopausal symptoms. Yin deficiency from a Chinese Medicine perspective has many downsides and can lead to serious problems left untreated. True yin deficiency is often worsened by excessive exercise (excessive sweating = loss of qi/yin, excessive activity = increase in internal heat), sexual activity (may weaken Kidneys - yin and yang), etc. so that recommendation -might- be valuable for a small percentage but from a holistic medicine approach (which is what our site focuses on) it is not an appropriate or even safe recommendation to apply across the board.
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