Moxibustion — known in Chinese as jiǔ (灸) — is one of the oldest therapeutic techniques in Traditional Chinese Medicine, used alongside acupuncture for over 2,500 years. It involves burning dried mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris or Artemisia argyi) at or near acupuncture points to warm the channels, tonify Yang energy, disperse cold and damp pathogenic factors, and stimulate the smooth flow of Qi and Blood. The classical TCM text Huangdi Neijing describes moxibustion as the appropriate treatment for conditions that needles alone cannot reach — particularly those caused by cold and deficiency.
In TCM theory, disease arises when the normal flow of Qi and Blood through the meridian system becomes disrupted — through excess, deficiency, stagnation, or the invasion of external pathogenic factors such as cold, damp, wind, and heat. Moxibustion addresses specifically those conditions caused by cold and deficiency: conditions that are improved by warmth, that worsen in cold weather, that involve a sense of deep fatigue or heaviness, or that respond poorly to needling alone.
The therapeutic principle is straightforward: the warmth generated by burning moxa penetrates through the skin into the acupoint and from there into the meridian, warming the channel, dispersing accumulated cold and damp, tonifying deficient Yang energy, and promoting the smooth circulation of Qi and Blood. In classical TCM understanding, Yang is the warm, active, transformative principle — its deficiency produces cold sensations, fatigue, slow digestion, frequent urination, and various reproductive disorders. Moxibustion is the primary Yang tonic in the TCM pharmacopoeia.
When there is disease that neither acupuncture nor herbs can reach, moxibustion is appropriate. It can warm the channels, expel the cold, strengthen Yang and prevent disease.
— Huangdi Neijing (The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine)Moxibustion has been the subject of a growing body of clinical research, particularly in China, Japan, and Korea where it remains in regular clinical use. The strongest evidence exists for its use in: breech presentation correction (multiple RCTs, moderate evidence); knee osteoarthritis pain reduction (several well-designed trials showing benefit); ulcerative colitis management (Chinese clinical trials showing reduction in relapse rates); and chemotherapy-induced nausea as an adjunct treatment.
The mechanism by which moxibustion produces its effects is not fully understood by Western biomedicine. Proposed mechanisms include: localised thermal effects on tissue and circulation; stimulation of acupoint-specific neurological responses similar to acupuncture; the pharmacological effects of volatile compounds in moxa smoke absorbed through the skin; and possibly infrared radiation effects that penetrate deeper than superficial heat. The honest position is that it works — for certain conditions, in certain populations — even though the mechanism remains incompletely characterised.