Lierre carries both new and traditional forms of moxa and moxa accessories. You'll find aged golden moxa, tiger warmers, and a series of different types of moxa sticks, both scented and unscented, smokeless and with smoke. Our accessories include tiger warmers, lion warmers, moxa plates, moxa extinguishers, moxa needle holders, moxa spoons, moxa lighters and cleaning brushes.

Q: What is moxibustion?

A: Moxibustion is a form of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) that is commonly practiced and mentioned alongside acupuncture. These two forms of treatment can be complementary and tend to be tied to the same principles. In Chinese, Moxibustion is called灸 (jiu). The same traditional theory of meridians and point separating in acupuncture applies to moxibustion, in which stimulating precise areas of the body can solve and prevent different health problems and conditions.

Instead of relying on needles, moxibustion involves burning as well as applying mugwort to stimulate Qi and blood. The heat produced by burning moxa sticks or moxa corns not only warms acupoints and meridians, but drives away dampness and cold inside the body.

Q: What is a moxa stick?

A: The moxa stick is the most used instrument in moxibustion. Usually, it is rolled into a stick shape with prepared mugwort so that the moxa stick will burn evenly and slowly. Burning moxa sticks is always accompanied by smoke, which is an essential therapeutic element of moxibustion in Asia. The moxa smoke and scent are believed to contain many beneficial trace elements. They have calming effects whereas the aroma of moxa can be quite pleasant.

Q: What are the types of moxa sticks?

A: There are two types of moxa sticks: the smoke moxa stick and the smokeless moxa stick. The difference is that smokeless moxa sticks are made from carbonized mugwort that does not produce smoke, while smoke moxa sticks are made from dried mugwort that produces smoke. The former type is suitable for practitioners and clients who are sensitive to moxa smoke. In addition, smokeless moxa sticks are perfect to use in enclosed spaces.

Q: Who can use moxibustion? Who is not suitable for moxibustion?

A: Since moxibustion and acupuncture share a theoretical base, most patients who can use acupuncture can also benefit from moxibustion.

However, moxibustion does have some different applications from acupuncture. As it involves heat, it can only be used to treat conditions that are not related to an overabundance of heat; moreover, it cannot be used on areas of the body that are sensitive. Thus, practitioners giving moxibustion treatments should avoid the heart, neck, genital and joint areas, as well as areas with hair and scars, as well as pregnant women’s abdomen and waist.

Moxibustion nourishes the flow of qi, so it cannot be used on people with fever or overeating, as well as on patients who are too weak or intoxicated.

Q:Which health problems and conditions can be treated with moxibustion?

A: Moxibustion is widely used to treat reproduction system illness like dysmenorrhea, infertility or premature ejaculation. It is effective in treating some chronic conditions such as joint pain, arthritis, and migraine. People with digestion problems, depression or anxiety can also benefit from it. 

Q:What are the methods of doing moxibustion? 

A: Here are four common methods of doing moxibustion:

1. Hanging moxibustion: Hang the burning moxa over the body.

2. Portable moxibustion: Use different kinds of moxa accessories to stick moxa on the body. Accessories suitable for this technique include moxibustion boxes, moxibustion cups, specialized needles and lion warms.

3. Indirect moxibustion: Apply ginger, garlic, salt or other herbs on the skin, and put moxa over them.

4. Direct moxibustion: Put moxa directly on the body. For direct moxibustion, please use loose moxa to make a moxa cone, and then burn the moxa cone.

Q: Does moxibustion have side effects?

A: In general, as an alternative therapy, moxibustion does not cause any side effects if performed by experienced practitioners or acupuncturists. Throat soreness, coughing, nausea or vomiting might occur under certain circumstances; but most of them can be avoided by consulting a professional practitioner. We strongly recommend you go to Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners to ask for recommendations before you start your own moxibustion journey.

The risk associated with moxibustion is the accidental burn to the skin. After burning a moxa stick, the falling ash is at a high temperature. Anyone not paying attention to the ashes could be burned, so always remember to remove the ash from the moxa sticks during a moxibustion treatment.

Q: When will I experience results? What kind of benefits will I observe?

A: There is no simple, one-size-fits-all answer to this question: different people will observe results at different times, depending on their particular physique and the ailments being treated. Generally speaking, moxibustion is not a technique that will show its full range of effects immediately. It takes effect gradually. 

Moxibustion’s benefits include, but are not limited to tension relief, an increased metabolism, enhanced Qi, increased blood circulation, detoxification, and more.

Q: What are the differences between different moxa products?

A: Moxa products can be divided into three different categories according to their forms: loose moxa, moxa sticks, and liquid moxa. Loose moxa consists of the original delivery form of the moxa herb, so it can be used in any method of moxibustion. Moxa sticks can be further subcategorized into smoke and smokeless moxa,scented and unscented moxa, and any combination of these qualities. Finally, liquid moxa is made from mugwort extract and mixed with several other herbs, which create an effect similar to smokeless moxa. It is also known as moxa essence, and is a practical and discrete form of moxibustion because it can be practiced almost anywhere.

Q: How to choose the suitable moxibustion products and accessories?

A:  Traditional moxa is made from 100% mugwort, hence it is worthy to buy from a reputable retailer and check that the moxa products you buy consist of 100% pure mugwort. You can also tell if the quality is good by watching the way moxa burns. A good moxa product should burn slowly and evenly, without sparks. Moreover, its ashes should not be abundant. The ashes should be very smooth and light in whitish gray color with a hint of green. For high quality loose moxa, it should be a golden color, with a soft, cottony texture, a mild smell and a very mild fire.

You can then consider other factors such as the working environment, methods of performing moxibustion, and the results you want to achieve. For example, if you work in an enclosed space, you may prefer smokeless moxa; if you tend to stick to traditional approaches, you may opt for moxa with smoke. Acupuncturists who tend to use moxa caps on their needles are suited to using loose moxa because it can be placed on their instruments. Practitioners who work with TDP lamps can benefit from moxa essence because it works best when heated by TDP lamps, whereas people who want to achieve a similar effect but do not have a TDP lamp may prefer smokeless moxa.

If you are interested in learning more about how to recognize and choose between different types of moxa, you can consult our blog articles on moxibustion! 

Q: How long can I store moxa products?

A: Generally speaking, moxa sticks, loose moxa and smokeless moxa have a 5-8 years shelf life. Mugwort oil evaporates slowly and enhances moxa’s therapeutic effects; however, after eight years, any additional evaporation no longer improves the quality of the mugwort, but may begin to make it too dry to use.

For the preservation of dried moxa products, always keep them in a dry and dark place. If those moxa products like moxa sticks and moxa cones soak up humidity, they will not burn evenly and will produce large amounts of unpleasant, bad smoke. Hence, these moxa products will no longer be suitable for regular use in treatments.

Q: Why is aged moxa important? What are the differences between three year, five year and eight year moxa?

A: After several steps of processing, mugwort leaves are turned into loose mugwort. Loose mugwort must be stored for several years to burn properly, as it takes time for the excess mugwort oil to evaporate. With each additional year of storage, moxa increases in quality and therapeutic potential. Therefore, the older the moxa, the better the therapeutic potential it is. A point worth mentioning is that loose moxa cannot be kept for more than eight years, as it will be too dry afterwards and lose its therapeutic effect.

The aged moxa is more expensive due to the difficulty of storage: when storing moxa, it must be protected from all types of climate, and kept isolated from insects and humidity. According to the above facts, the older the moxa is, the higher the quality and the more expensive it will be.

The main differences between three-year, five-year, and eight-year moxa are storage time, moxibustion efficacy, and price. The eight-year moxa, which is at moxa’s peak quality, will burn the slowest. It also has the highest moxibustion efficacy, but it takes the longest storage time, and is the most expensive. The five-year and three-year moxa are comparable: they are both high quality moxa, will burn slow and smoothly, and have similar moxibustion efficacy. However, five-year moxa is more expensive than three-year moxa. So we usually recommend three year aged moxa to most practitioners, as it offers a great quality/price ratio.

Q: What does the ratio of moxa mean?

A: If you’ve looked at descriptions of moxa, you may have noticed that they may mention ratios like 15:1 or 20:1, with pound or kilogram weight units. These ratios refer to the purity of moxa: they describe the amount of mugwort used to make one unit of moxa. For example, 15:1 means that in order to produce 1 kg of moxa, 15 kg of mugwort leaves are used. The higher the ratio, the more mugwort is used and the better the moxa will be.

Lierre’s moxibustion products have different ratios of 35:1, 20:1 and 15:1. These products are high in quality but affordable as well. You can visit our website for more information.

Q: What moxa accessories will I need?

A: The moxa accessories you’ll need depend on the type of moxibustion products you’re using. For example, if you're using liquid moxa or moxa essence, a TDP lamp can be incredibly beneficial; if you’re using stick moxa, a specialized moxa torch will help you achieve the right burning temperature quickly, and if you’re combining acupuncture and moxibustion in treatment together, needle caps are necessary. A moxa extinguisher is also essential for the moxa products that require burning.