The "handle" of the anti-tumor community - moxibustion, used correctly, has many benefits

With the enhancement of people's awareness of health care, more and more people have begun to pay attention to moxibustion health care, and more and more patients have applied moxibustion to the process of tumor treatment to alleviate the adverse reactions of treatment, and its efficacy is diverse
.
Does it work?

As one of the important external treatments of traditional medicine, moxibustion has the effects of supporting the solid foundation, warming the meridians, promoting qi and activating blood, dissipating stagnation and eliminating stasis, and has a significant
effect in the treatment of tumors, especially in improving the symptoms of tumor patients, treating complications and reducing adverse reactions of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

In this article, let's take a look at what are the "contributions" of moxibustion in tumor patients!

What is moxibustion?

Burning of mugwort leaves can produce a warming effect, applied to specific acupoints, by stimulating local thermoreceptors and nociceptors, when a certain temperature is reached, it activates heat-sensitive immune cells and heat shock proteins, and initiates the local temperature flux effect mechanism
.
Thus, it mediates subsequent local reactions and the conduction of nerves, body fluids, and neurohumoral interactions, and exerts the effect of warming and affects the whole body
.

What are the benefits of moxibustion for cancer patients?

Carcinogenic fatigue

Carcinogenic fatigue is a subjective feeling caused by the tumor itself or tumor treatment, manifested as fatigue, weakness, lack of concentration, low mood, etc
.
TCM classifies this as "vain labor"
.

After the burning of moxa strips, the drug penetrates from the epidermis into the deep tissues and systemic circulation through heat radiation, and through neuroendocrine effects, it reduces interleukin-1 and tumor necrosis factor, reduces local inflammatory cells, improves immune function, and thus improves fatigue ^[1].

Take the hole

Often take Shenque, Guanyuan, Qi Sea, Zhongxuan and other acupuncture points
.

Gastrointestinal reactions

Nausea and vomiting are common gastrointestinal reactions of the tumor itself and after treatment, which belong to the category
of "nausea" and "vomiting" in Chinese medicine.

Moxibustion has the function of regulating qi and strengthening the spleen and regulating the qi machine, which can restore the spleen to clear and the stomach to reduce turbidity, so as to effectively prevent the occurrence
of vomiting.
It has the function of
strengthening the spleen and dissolving moisture, and gastric reversal, and regulating the ventilation machine.

Take the hole

The selection of acupoints is mainly based on Ren Pulse, Zuyang Ming Stomach Meridian, and Hand Yu Yin Pericardial Meridian, and the commonly used acupuncture points are Zusanli, Neiguan, Zhongxuan, and Gongsun
.

Immunocompromised

Malignant tumors can directly invade immune organs, and can also release immunosuppressive factors to reduce host immunity; Chemotherapy drugs, radiation, etc.
kill tumor cells while inevitably causing certain inhibition or damage
to the body's immunity.

Moxibustion can regulate lymphocytes, NK cells and their related cytokines, enhance immune function and stimulate human health
by participating in innate immunity, cellular immunity and humoral immunity.

Take the hole

The selection of acupoints is mainly
based on the acupuncture points of Ren pulse, bladder meridian and stomach meridian.
Acupuncture points that replenish vitality and deficiency are more commonly used in Zusanli, Qi Hai, Guan Yuan, etc
.

Myelosuppression

Myelosuppression caused by radiotherapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, etc.
is mainly manifested as inhibition of the growth of hematopoietic stem cells, destruction of their microenvironment, and rapid reduction
of peripheral blood leukocytes, red blood cells and platelets.

Moxibustion can promote the division and proliferation of bone marrow hematopoietic cells, increase the expression of bone marrow tissue intercellular adhesion molecule 1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 protein, thereby improving peripheral blood white blood cell count and improving bone marrow suppression
.

Take the hole

Moxibustion acupoints are mainly selected from the bladder meridian, stomach meridian and spleen meridian acupuncture points, and the top 5 acupuncture points used frequently are Zusanli, large vertebrae, diaphragm Yu, spleen Yu, and kidney Yu ^[2].

Lymphedema of the upper extremities

Upper extremity lymphedema is a common complication
after breast cancer surgery and after chemoradiotherapy.
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that breast cancer is a disease of "milk rock", and patients have pathological changes such as yin and yang imbalance, deficiency of positive qi, accumulation of evil qi at the time of onset, and then damage the veins due to surgery, which can cause poor blood flow, block the meridians, and lead to "edema"
.

Moxibustion can strengthen the qi and blood of the upper limbs, unblock the operation of jin fluid, reduce swelling and relieve pain
.

Take the hole

Select acupoints such as Hegu, Quchi, Neiguan, Waiguan, Shoulder Zhen, Arm, Ah Shi Acupoint, etc.
, and take its local therapeutic effect
of warming meridians and paralyzing and removing stasis.

How to use moxibustion?

In general, the main methods commonly used are moxa moxibustion, moxa moxibustion, warm moxibustion, etc.
, and different types of moxibustion are slightly different:

Moxibustion box (picture from the Internet)

Care should be taken during moxibustion

Write at the end

Whether tumor patients can undergo moxibustion is related to the severity of the disease and constitution, etc.
, and moxibustion can be used to relieve uncomfortable symptoms, but it is not possible to rely on this method to treat tumors!

Moxibustion is not a one-day effort and requires continuous treatment for a period of time to take effect
.
Mr.
Zhou Fengsheng said in the book "Moxibustion Rope": "Those who have a husband and moxibustion have a long time, and the method of moxibustion for a long time is also"
.

References

1.
LI Chen, WANG Xiaomin.
Research progress in the treatment of cancer-induced fatigue[J].
Chinese Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine,2015,30(4):1177-1180.
)

2.
Zhang Shenghong, Sun Minquan, Xu Ling, et al.
Analysis of acupuncture points caused by myelosuppression caused by radiotherapy and chemotherapy in China based on data mining[J].
Chinese Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine,2016,34(8):1809-1812.
)

3.
CHEN Dong, GONG Xiuqin.
Development of adjustable temperature moxibustion box[J].
Journal of Nursing,2016,23(15):77-78.
)

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