She’s Got Moxy! New Surge in Alternative Medicine?

Kampō is the Japanese adaptation and re-invention of traditional Chinese medicine. Besides herbs and acupuncture, kampō includes the art of moxibustion to help treat pain, stiffness, and other ailments.

“moxa” use is making a comeback among younger Japanese, with updated packaging for the next generation.

With the do-it-yourself kind of moxa, the instructions are simple. You peel off the adhesive pad, light the other end (which looks like a fat, squat incense stick and comes in different scents of dried mugwort) and place the heated circle on the part of your body that requires energy flow or circulation. The dried mugwort — which sounds like something Harry Potter would use in herbology class – burns right above your skin, “triggering natural healing responses in the body.” Like acupuncture, it pinpoints a specific area of the body. Unlike acupuncture, it warms your skin and muscles and releases healing herbs to boot.

At first I thought moxa looked like a silly trend, like “hot stone therapy” or cupping from the days of Gwyneth Paltrow’s tabloid dominance:

Turns out she stole it from Eastern medicine, too! Maybe there’s something to it…

You’ll never get me to try magnet therapy, though.

Sarah S.

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