Typical Case
Aunt Zhang has long suffered from gout. During another gout attack, with unbearable pain in her knee and ankle and ineffective painkillers, she sought treatment from Associate Chief Physician Zeng Wenbi in the Rehabilitation Department. After a detailed examination, Dr. Zeng proposed a fire needle treatment plan, performing fire needle puncture and bloodletting at the swollen and painful areas. After more than ten minutes, Aunt Zhang felt a significant reduction in pain.
Science Time
Fire Needle Therapy
01
What is Fire Needle Therapy?
Fire needle therapy sounds like a mysterious martial art from a wuxia novel, but it is actually an ancient TCM treatment. In simple terms, it involves quickly inserting a heated needle tip into specific acupuncture points to achieve the effects of unblocking meridians, harmonizing qi and blood, expelling evils, and relieving pain.
02
Mechanism of Fire Needle Therapy
Using Fire to Assist Yang
Fire needle therapy introduces heat directly into the body through the heated needle, stimulating the flow of qi and invigorating blood circulation, warming and strengthening the yang energy of the organs. This thermal stimulation can adjust the yin-yang balance in the body, enhance immunity, and improve disease resistance.
Opening the Door to Expel Evils
Fire needle therapy cauterizes specific acupoints, opening the external pathways of the meridians to allow external evils to exit. This helps to expel pathogenic products such as blood stasis and dampness from the body, thereby eliminating the cause of disease and achieving therapeutic effects.
Using Heat to Draw Out Heat
Fire needle therapy is effective not only for bi syndrome and cold syndromes caused by wind, cold, and dampness but also for heat syndromes. The thermal stimulation of the fire needle can guide heat evils outward, achieving the goal of clearing heat and detoxifying.
03
Effects of Fire Needle Therapy
Unblocking Meridians
In fire needle therapy, the fire needle stimulates the meridians, promoting the flow of qi and blood, thus achieving the effect of unblocking the meridians. Meridian blockage often leads to a series of symptoms such as neck, shoulder, waist, and leg pain, gout, and postherpetic neuralgia. Fire needle therapy can promote smooth circulation of qi and blood through meridian stimulation, alleviating or eliminating these symptoms.
Harmonizing Qi and Blood
Fire needle therapy stimulates acupoints and guides heat into the body, activating the functions of the organs and adjusting the flow of qi and blood to eliminate pathogenic factors. When the flow of qi and blood is obstructed, it can lead to pain, numbness, or other discomforts. Fire needle therapy can promote the circulation of qi and blood by stimulating relevant acupoints, harmonizing qi and blood, and alleviating these discomfort symptoms.
Expelling Evils and Relieving Pain
When the body is invaded by external evils, it can lead to stagnation of qi and blood, resulting in pain, numbness, and other discomforts. Through the acupoints and thermal stimulation of the fire needle, it can invigorate qi, warm yang energy, dispel cold and dampness, expel wind and relieve itching, eliminate stasis and pus, reduce swelling, and relieve pain. It is suitable for conditions such as ganglion cysts, acne, varicose veins, and local hematomas.
04
The New Charm of Fire Needle Therapy
With the support of modern medicine, fire needle therapy has regained new charm. Many TCM clinics and hospitals have established specialized outpatient services for fire needle therapy, providing more professional and convenient treatment services for patients. At the same time, with the development of technology, fire needle therapy is continuously innovating and improving, not only in the innovation and reform of the needles but also in the methods of needling and treatment areas, expanding its indications and contributing new strength to people’s health.
In addition to treating gout, the indications for fire needle therapy are very broad. In our department, it is commonly used for cervical spondylosis, headaches, shoulder periarthritis, low back pain, knee pain, lateral epicondylitis, facial paralysis, limb numbness, herpes zoster (both acute and postherpetic phases), ganglion cysts, acne, etc.
As an ancient and magical TCM therapy, fire needle therapy attracts more and more attention and recognition due to its unique “using heat to draw out heat” principle and powerful therapeutic effects. If you have long been troubled by pain, you might as well try this ancient and interesting treatment method!
Doctor Introduction
Zeng Wenbi
Associate Chief TCM Physician
Specializes in treating cervical spondylosis, lumbar disc herniation, acute lumbar sprains, shoulder periarthritis, knee arthritis, etc., using methods such as floating needles, blade needles, and fire needles. Also treats pediatric diseases such as colds, night crying, rhinitis, cough, eczema, and pregnancy symptoms like vomiting and poor appetite using TCM color patches.
Profile: Master’s degree in integrated Chinese and Western medicine. Graduated from Southern Medical University in 2013. Studied acupuncture at Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 2018. Over the past five years, has led two projects funded by the Foshan Science and Technology Bureau and one by the Health Bureau; participated as a key member in two projects funded by the Foshan Science and Technology Bureau; published multiple academic papers in domestic medical journals.
END
Proofread by | Liang Liyi, Liang Dingyao
Contributed by | Rehabilitation Department, Zeng Wenbi
Edited by | Liang Dingyao
Reviewed by | Huang Dingzhu
Checked by | Li Hengshou
