Fire needle therapy is an important unique treatment in our hospital’s dermatology department. Fire needle is one of the nine needles, historically known as “cuì cì” (quenched needle) and “rán zhēn” (burning needle), which involves heating a specially made needle until it is red hot and quickly inserting it into acupuncture points to treat diseases. This method has a long history, as recorded in the Huangdi Neijing – Ling Shu – Guanzhen: “For the quenched needle, the burning needle is used to treat bi syndrome.” The Qianjin Yifang states: “For treating boils and abscesses, the needle must be extremely hot.” Research has confirmed that fire needle can treat over 120 diseases, with a spectrum of advantages including orthopedic, neurological, surgical, gynecological, dermatological, and otorhinolaryngological conditions, particularly with a high application rate and good efficacy in dermatological diseases. Fire needle is widely used in conditions such as herpes zoster, eczema, folliculitis, warts, pruritus, neurodermatitis, and vitiligo.
Mechanism of Fire Needle Therapy
①Chronic diseases enter the collaterals; fire needle can warm and assist yang, support the righteous qi, open the collaterals, and expel evil, treating chronic skin diseases such as vitiligo, alopecia areata, and atopic dermatitis.;
②For pain caused by cold, fire needle can warm the meridians, disperse cold, open the collaterals, and resolve stasis to relieve pain, corresponding to the pathogenesis of skin diseases characterized by “cold, pain, and stasis,” such as treating herpes zoster and skin numbness.
③Heat and toxic evil are the causes of skin diseases like boils and abscesses; fire needle can draw out heat, expel pus, disperse nodules, and promote tissue regeneration, treating folliculitis and polymorphic acne.
④“To treat wind, first treat the blood; when blood flows, wind will naturally disappear,” fire needle can harmonize qi and blood, invigorate blood, expel wind, open the pores to expel evil, and calm itching, showing excellent efficacy in treating pruritus and nodular prurigo, which are stubborn skin itching conditions.
