Professor Liu Hongxia, a scholar of Qi Huang, has, over nearly forty years of clinical practice, adhered to the fundamental theories of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and the meridian theory of acupuncture. Combining the characteristics of skin lesions in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, she has modified the traditional fire needle tool to a fine needle, employing a light, shallow, and rapid puncturing technique for the treatment of skin diseases. This method directly acts on the lesion site, yielding quick results, effectively reaching the disease location and expelling pathogenic factors, thus forming the Liu’s Fire Needle Therapy of TCM external treatment school.
Q: Doctor, what is the fire needle? Is it fire or a needle?
A: In simple terms, the fire needle is a TCM acupuncture treatment method where the tip of the acupuncture needle is heated until red and then used to puncture the local skin lesions. The heated needle provides thermal stimulation, thus having both the effects of acupuncture and moxibustion.
Q: Doesn’t that break my skin? Won’t it hurt? It sounds quite scary.
A: The needles we commonly use are fine needles, with a tip diameter of only 0.25mm. The puncture depth is very shallow, with small needle holes and a rapid frequency. Moreover, it is only applied to the lesions. Some patients with thick, itchy rashes even prefer multiple punctures, which feels like scratching an itch and is less painful than drawing blood. During the procedure, there may be slight pain, which varies according to each person’s pain threshold, but overall, this pain is generally tolerable. During treatment, the ignited alcohol cotton ball is brought close to the lesion but kept at a distance, so the flame does not touch the skin, so there is no need to worry.
Q: Will the fire needle leave marks?
A: Our fire needle primarily uses shallow punctures, and the range and depth of the puncture usually do not exceed the lesions themselves, so there is no need to worry about this treatment causing additional scars.
Q:
What are the benefits of fire needle therapy?
A: The efficacy of fire needle therapy is extensive. For our dermatology patients, it is used for allergic skin diseases such as eczema, atopic dermatitis, and stasis dermatitis to open pathways, expel pathogens, and relieve itching; for viral skin infections like herpes zoster, herpes simplex, and flat warts; for bacterial skin infections such as erysipelas, folliculitis, pustular dermatitis, suppurative hidradenitis, leg ulcers, and boils to clear heat, detoxify, remove necrotic tissue, and promote healing; for skin appendage diseases like acne and rosacea to draw out heat, reduce swelling, and relieve pain; for pigmentary skin diseases like melasma and vitiligo to invigorate blood circulation, dispel stasis, and resolve nodules; and for hair diseases like alopecia areata and androgenetic alopecia to warm and unblock meridians, dispel stasis, and promote hair growth. Different diseases have different therapeutic effects.
Q: What does it feel like after the fire needle treatment?
A: After the fire needle treatment, the local skin lesions will have small papules, slightly raised skin, which will gradually subside after a few minutes. There may be brief mild itching or pain that starts to disappear after a few minutes. These are stress responses after the fire needle treatment, lasting for a short time and within tolerable limits. After 1-2 days, the puncture sites will begin to scab and gradually fall off.
Q:
Are there any precautions after fire needle therapy?
A: 1. Avoid water: Do not contact water within 6-24 hours after fire needle therapy, and we will provide different recommendations based on the size of the wound; 2. Avoid scratching: The treated skin lesions should not be scratched to prevent infection. The types of ointments that can be used after fire needle therapy need to be discussed with the doctor.
Expert Profile
Name: Liu Hongxia
Department: Dermatology
Position: Department Head
Title: Chief Physician, National Level II Professor, Doctoral Supervisor, Expert enjoying special government allowances from the State Council, Qi Huang Scholar of the National TCM Talent Support Program, Guiding Teacher for the Fifth and Sixth National Academic Experience Inheritance of Old TCM Experts, and First Session of Famous TCM Ethnic Medicine Experts in Xinjiang.
Specialization: Proposed the principles of “Strengthening the Spleen to Expel Dampness” and “Strengthening the Spleen to Benefit the Kidney” in the differential diagnosis and treatment of psoriasis, utilizing the diagnostic approach of “differentiating disease, syndrome, and constitution” to treat difficult and miscellaneous diseases, especially skilled in the application of non-drug therapies, achieving satisfactory clinical results.
Outpatient Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday mornings
END
Source: Dermatology Li Pengying Xu Youlu
Editor: Ma Ying Ma Qian
Reviewer: Sun Qiang
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