Can I do Sanfu moxibustion during menstruation?

Acupuncture is a common health care method, which is very beneficial to health. There are many acupuncture points on the human body, and different acupuncture points represent different parts of the body. Acupuncture is generally used to maintain health through acupuncture points. Sanfu moxibustion is performed in summer, which is very good for health. However, due to the special physiological functions of women, they usually have menstruation every month. Can Sanfu moxibustion be performed during menstruation?

Can I do Sanfu moxibustion during menstruation?

1. The medicine used in the Sanfu moxibustion patch is to replenish Yang Qi, and generally contains medicine that promotes blood circulation and activates collaterals, which will interfere with the menstrual cycle and menstrual volume. Therefore, it is recommended not to do Sanfu moxibustion when the menstrual flow is heavy a few days before the menstrual period. Patients can inform the doctor in advance. If you have already done Sanfu moxibustion during your menstrual period, don’t worry too much. Just avoid doing it in the first few days of your menstrual period next time.

2. In addition, each person has a different physical constitution and different tolerance to Sanfu moxibustion medicines. For the same medicine, some people may not see blisters even after applying it for a long time, while for others, red marks will be left after 5 hours that do not disappear within a day. In this case, the doctor will change the acupoints and perform Sanfu moxibustion. Citizens can go to the hospital and ask the doctor for judgment on whether it is suitable to continue to do Sanfu moxibustion.

Precautions for Sanfu moxibustion

1. Consult in advance before applying Tianjiu

Traditional Chinese medicine divides human body constitution into nine types: balanced constitution, qi deficiency constitution, yang deficiency constitution, yin deficiency constitution, blood stasis constitution, phlegm-damp constitution, damp-heat constitution, qi stagnation constitution, and special constitution. Tianjiu is very effective for people with yang deficiency and qi deficiency constitutions, but it is not suitable for people with yin deficiency and damp-heat constitutions. Tianjiu uses medicines that are warming and yang-warming. Once people with damp-heat constitutions apply the medicine, it is like adding fuel to the fire. Therefore, before deciding to have Tianjiu, it is best to go to the hospital for consultation first and ask the doctor whether you are suitable for Tianjiu, what corresponding symptoms you have, and which parts to mainly apply the medicine. This way, the doctor can complete the application of the medicine quickly on the day of application and save consultation time.

2. Dietary taboos during the medication period

On the day of applying the medicine and the next day, you should not eat raw, cold, seafood, spicy food, or food that is prone to suppuration, such as beef, duck, goose, peanuts and other fried foods. You should not take a bath within 10 hours of applying the medicine. During treatment, you should avoid eating beef, duck, goose, peanuts and other fried foods. During the application period, you should avoid eating raw, cold, irritating foods, do not be greedy for coolness, do not eat fatty, greasy foods, foods that produce phlegm and dampness, and avoid eating seafood, shrimps and other easily-inflammable foods, so as not to affect the treatment effect.

3. Precautions after applying the medicine

Tianjiu therapy is also known as "blistering moxibustion". It is normal for blisters to form after applying the medicine. Adults generally apply the medicine for 2-4 hours, and children apply it for 1-2 hours. The skin will feel hot and burning after applying the medicine. Everyone's skin tolerance is different, so it should be within the tolerance range. After applying the patch, the local skin of most people will feel burning and redness. If the skin on the acupoints is blistered, the effect will be better, proving that the applied medicine has penetrated into the acupoint meridians through the skin, and reached the diseased area directly through the meridians' qi and blood. However, patients with scar-prone constitution may be left with scars after blistering. If blisters appear on the skin after applying the medicine, you should take care to protect the wound surface to avoid scratching and causing infection.

4. The key to doing Sanfu moxibustion is persistence

Generally speaking, moxibustion should be performed at least three times a year, once in the first, middle and last dog days. It can also be strengthened 10 days before the beginning of the dog days and 10 days after the end of the dog days. The function of Tianjiu is to prevent diseases and maintain health, not to treat diseases. A course of Tianjiu treatment is three years. Its main purpose is disease prevention and health care. If you give up halfway, doing it for one year and stopping for one year, the effect will definitely be compromised.

5. Taboos of Sanfu moxibustion

Patients with cough and asthma accompanied by fever, and those with active tuberculosis accompanied by hemoptysis cannot be treated with the "Sanfu moxibustion" method. From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, people with these diseases either have excessive yang or insufficient yin. In short, there is a lot of "fire" in the body. If hot medicines are used, the yang will become more excessive and the yin will become more deficient, which will not only aggravate the fever, hemoptysis and other symptoms, but may even be life-threatening.