Why is moxibustion such an integral part of acupuncture practice today?
Up until this century, before the advancement of ‘modern medicine’, acupuncturists played the role of physician in China and Japan. The patient population at acupuncture clinics was quite different in those days, consisting of many people with acute life threatening illnesses such as serious infection, systemic inflammation, and communicable diseases. These illnesses are typically ‘heat syndrome’ in traditional Chinese medicine terms manifested by noticeably high fever. Today, patient populations are quite different compared to in the past. Rarely, acupuncturists encounter serious acute conditions but rather most patients visit with chronic pain conditions, functional disorders, or a variety of stress related illnesses. In the majority of those chronic conditions, the patients have a cold constitution. Even some patients who appear to be manifesting heat, really have underlying chronic cold in their system which creates the heat-syndrome-like symptoms as their body tries to balance. Wh
