Moxa – Precautions and contraindications
- When treating children, generally the moxa is not allowed to burn down to the skin.
- When treating inflamed areas or inflamed joints, do not burn moxa on points in the inflamed area, rather, select and treat local points that are proximal and distal to the inflamation.
- Burning moxa on the face is generally is not recommended because of the risk of scarring
- Avoid apply moxa when the patient is very hungry or just has eaten a big meal.
- Avoid the use of moxa in very seious cases, such as the last stage of cancer, a very high fever, or extreme fatique.
- It is ill-advised to use the moxa on the lower abdomen of a pregnant or possibly pregnant woman.
- Avoid moxa application for an hour before or after taking a very hot bath or sauna.
- Avoid treating with moxa if the patient has recently consumed alcohol drinks.
- Avoid using moxibution over large blood vessel.
- Avoid the direct moxibution over areas of dermatological disease
- There are contraindications on traditional and modern literature as to which points are contraindicated for use with moxa. Nevertheless, it is good idea to become familiar with these contraindications and follow them. (Ada kontraindikasi pada literatur trasional dan modern tengtang titik mana yang kontraindikasi terhadap moxa. Namun, sangat disarankan untuk terbiasa dengan kontraindikasi ini dan mengikutinya.)
- Care should be taken when using the moxa on diabetic or allergic patients because the site of moxibution can more easily become irritated or infected than on non-diabetic or non-allergic patients.
- Usually, when applying moxa on a diabetic patients, only points on the torso are selected.
- When applying moxa, it is always good idea to locate and treat the points while the patients remains in one treatment position.
