Effects and contraindications of wax therapy

Wax therapy is a physical therapy method with a long history, and related records were found as early as in "Compendium of Materia Medica". The principle of wax therapy is to apply heated wax to the patient's affected area to eliminate swelling and soften scars. Sometimes, in order to enhance the effect of wax therapy, other drugs are added for synergistic treatment. When using wax therapy, you must be aware of its effects and contraindications. So, what are the effects and contraindications of wax therapy?

Wax therapy refers to a treatment method that uses heating and melting beeswax to conduct heat into the body in order to prevent and treat diseases. Ancient medical books record the use of beeswax to treat boils, lupus, and to soften veins and wounds. Nowadays, wax therapy can be used to treat a variety of diseases, such as muscle inflammation, acute sprain and contusion of soft tissue, postoperative adhesion, lumbar muscle strain, neurovascular headache, neuralgia, neuritis, neurodermatitis, shoulder inflammation, gastric and duodenal ulcers, hepatitis, cholecystitis, rhinitis, pelvic inflammatory disease, gastroenteritis, eczema, arthritis and other diseases.

The role of wax therapy

1. Injury and strain, such as contusion, sprain, traumatic bursitis, tenosynovitis, periostitis, muscle injury, etc.

2. Joint dysfunction, joint stiffness, scar contracture, circulatory disorders, etc.

3. Sequelae of trauma or surgery, such as scar adhesion and infiltration.

4. Various chronic inflammations, such as arthritis, gastroduodenal ulcer disease, gastritis, gastrointestinal neurosis, hepatitis, pleurisy, cholecystitis, pelvic inflammatory disease, neuritis and neuralgia, chronic osteomyelitis, myositis, and persistent pneumonia in children.

5. Poor healing of wounds or ulcers, malnutrition-related ulcers, frostbite and sequelae of frostbite, etc.

Contraindications

Weakness and high fever, malignant tumors, active pulmonary tuberculosis, diseases with bleeding tendency, severe diabetes, hyperthyroidism, chronic renal insufficiency, infectious skin diseases, as well as pregnant women and infants.

Precautions

1. When treating children, special attention should be paid to the fact that children are uncooperative, have delicate skin and are easily burned. Therefore, the treatment temperature should be slightly lower than that of adults.

2. If the skin at the treatment site is broken, cover it with a layer of Vaseline gauze. If there are local ulcers or wounds, they should first be rinsed with potassium permanganate solution and covered with a thin wax film.

3. Accurately grasp the temperature of the wax. The temperature of the wax pad should be the temperature when it contacts the skin surface. Apply it evenly and quickly, otherwise it will easily flow out and burn the skin or damage clothing. If the patient feels pain during treatment, check immediately. When doing wax therapy, the patient must be informed clearly that the second immersion in wax must not exceed the edge of the first layer of wax film to avoid burning the skin.

4. The wax pad will harden after cooling. It should be handled with care to avoid collision or forceful folding to prevent the wax pad from breaking. After heating, wipe off the moisture on the surface of the wax pad before treatment.

5. During the treatment, you must carefully observe and ask the patient about the skin condition of the treatment area. If a rash is found, treatment should be stopped immediately. The reasons are mostly impure or deteriorated wax (such as oxidation caused by high temperature); some people are allergic to adhesive tape (or oil cloth), so they should be handled appropriately.