Where should I use moxibustion for toothache?

Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes that the human body is a whole. Ancient doctors could judge a person's physical health through observation, listening, questioning and palpation. Traditional Chinese medicine also emphasizes treating diseases through acupuncture points. Toothache is a pain that we don't want to experience at all. We often say that severe inflammation can cause toothache, and this is indeed true. Toothache is largely caused by stomach fire. If you have severe toothache, which part can you use moxibustion on?

Toothache attacks are mostly caused by stomach fire, wind fire or kidney yin deficiency. Moxibustion can relieve toothache to a certain extent. So where is the best place to apply moxibustion?

1 Lower ear: on the face, in the depression formed by the zygomatic arch and the mandibular notch. Female knee: Heel, at the junction of the red and white flesh on the midline behind the heel, lie prone or sideways to locate the acupoint. Buccinator: On the cheek, about one horizontal finger above and in front of the mandibular angle. When chewing, the masseter muscle bulges and presses into the depression. Hegu: On the dorsum of the hand, between the first and second metacarpal bones, at the midpoint of the radial side of the second metacarpal bone.

2. Moxibustion points for wind-heat toothache

Main symptoms: paroxysmal and aggravated toothache, swollen gums, flare-ups when exposed to wind, pain relieved when the affected area is cooled but aggravated when heated, accompanied by fever, thirst, and red tongue with thin white coating. Acupoints: Fengchi, Waiguan, Xiaguan, Jiache, Hegu, and Nuxi point. Efficacy: Clears away heat and detoxifies.

3 Moxibustion points for stomach fire toothache

Main symptoms: severe toothache, red and swollen gums, or pus and blood. In severe cases, the pain extends to the cheeks, making it difficult to chew, causing bad breath, constipation, and a red tongue with a dry yellow coating. Acupoints: Laodong, Neiting, Xiaguan, Cheek Cartilage, and Hegu. Efficacy: Clears the stomach and reduces heat.

4 Moxibustion points for toothache caused by kidney deficiency

Main symptoms: dull toothache that comes and goes, often worse at night, or becomes chronic, with slightly red and swollen gums, loose tooth roots, weakness in chewing, and may be accompanied by dizziness, tinnitus, back pain, hot hands and feet, and a red tongue with little coating. Acupoints: moxibustion on Taixi, Xingjian, Xiaguan, Cheek Cartilage and Hegu points. Efficacy: Nourishes yin and tonifies kidney.

5. Moxibustion for toothache

Use moxa sticks for gentle moxibustion. Light the moxa sticks and the rescuer holds the moxa stick in his right hand and suspends it vertically over the acupuncture point, 3-4 cm away from the skin. Burn it directly until the patient feels warm and comfortable, or even feels hot and painful. Keep the warmth stimulation continuous. Moxibustion each point for 10-15 minutes.

Moxibustion, a method of moxibustion in traditional Chinese acupuncture therapy, is a treatment method that uses the heat generated by moxibustion materials made of mugwort to stimulate acupuncture points or specific parts of the body surface, and adjusts the disordered physiological and biochemical functions of the human body by stimulating the activity of meridian qi, thereby achieving the purpose of preventing and curing diseases.

The use of moxibustion originated after humans mastered the use of fire, which was in the Stone Age. Moxibustion originated in ancient China. Because its mechanism of action is similar to that of acupuncture and it has a complementary therapeutic effect with acupuncture, acupuncture and moxibustion are usually used together, hence the name acupuncture.

Acupuncture has a profound influence on treating diseases both at home and abroad, but when modern people talk about moxibustion, most of the time they only refer to acupuncture, and rarely include moxibustion.