A newly opened traditional Chinese medicine clinic has revived some once-popular old therapies, which are now hard to find even in major hospitals.

In Chinese, moxibustion always follows acupuncture. When people say zhenjiu, literally it means acupuncture (zhen) and moxibustion (jiu). But in fact, most people are actually only referring to acupuncture when they say the word zhenjiu, without really being aware of the literally meaning of jiu.

That is because moxibustion is less and less frequently seen in major Chinese hospitals, for several reasons.

First of all, traditional moxibustion produces a lot of smoke. That, in many of today's big, modern and clean hospitals, is seen as a drawback.

Furthermore, traditional moxibustion requires a person to hold a roll of packed condensed dry moxa, a grass, over certain acupuncture points, to transmit the warmth into the body for treatment purposes. That takes up a lot of time and is seen as a troublesome process.

Finally, because a roll of moxa costs only about one yuan (12 US cents), hospitals cannot make much profit from it and have little incentive to use it.

Therefore, people can now only find moxibustion at small or very traditional Chinese medicine clinics.

In fact, throughout the history of Chinese medicine, moxibustion has been considered a very practical and useful therapy.

Moxa is a grass that is purely yang in nature and is considered to be able to promote yang energy in the body and cure problems caused by yang deficiency.

Such problems might be reflected by having cold hands and feet all the time, or aching and sore bone joints.

Moxibustion is also good for strengthening the spleen and stomach, according to Fan Changwei, expert at Harmony Hall Chinese Medicine Clinic.

Fan applies moxibustion on different acupuncture points of the body to treat problems of specific parts of the body.

He has also improved the traditional moxibustion application technique by incorporating it into a brass pot. This allows it to be tied by adjustable belts onto the relevant point of the body for moxibution. A piece of moxa roll is burnt inside the pot. The doctor can adjust the temperature of the pot by a handle on it.

That enables the doctor to apply moxibustion on several points simultaneously. It also makes it possible for patients to easily apply moxibustion by themselves at home.

Fan is also developing a smokeless moxibustion pot that will also avoid the smoke problem.

"My goal is to revive the traditional method of moxibustion, and see it become a way of daily health keeping again in Chinese society," he said.

Nieji, spine squeezing, or sqeezing to cure indigestion, is known only to old people or local Beijingers who are familiar with traditional methods of treating diseases.

According to Jia Chunhua, a doctor at the Harmony Hall Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic, nieji is actually a part of Chinese tuina massage for children to cure their chronic digestion or nutrition disorders.

In summer, some children develop diarrhoea or vomiting, their stools sometimes become too thin and too dry. These children may grow thinner by the day. They have a poor appetite, low spirits, sleep excessively, sweat a lot when they sleep and the corners of the mouth become inflamed.

In a demonstration of nieji, spine squeezing, Jia asked a child to lie on her stomach, and used the thumbs and index fingers of both hands to slightly squeeze the skin along both sides of the spinal cord. Starting at the end of coccyx, she continued upwards until her fingers reached the neck.

"This method opens up channels at the back, adjusts the balance of yin and yang, and promotes the circulation of blood and qi," said the doctor.

This therapy is especially effective for improving the function of the internal organs and the immune function of the body. It works well to strengthen the spleen and stomach.

But children with broken skin or skin problems should not use this method. Likewise, those who have a high fever, heart problems or a tendency to bleeding should also be cautious about using the therapy.

Because the spine squeezing technique is relatively easy to perform, the method can be used by parents themselves. But it must be noted that it should only be applied when the child has an empty stomach, or at least two hours after a meal. The force applied by the fingers should be soft and gentle, and should last no more than three to five minutes each time.

(China Daily 08/12/2005 page8)