Moxibustion is one of the most effective treatment methods for most pain and sports injuries. It will help post-surgery recovery as well.

Knee Pain

We have a Chinese saying: When a person is getting old, it will firstly show in their leg. By that, it really means the qi and blood is not working well in their body. Knee pain is very commonly seen.

My mom always trusted Western medicine, which is the same for the majority of people. She would rather listen to her family doctor and the 20 similar elderly people who are on long-term medication, instead of following my seemingly layman advice. I told her to do moxibustion and reduce her high blood pressure pills. She didn’t listen. She argued that it’s normal that every person needs to take pills when they get older.

Her idea changed, if not totally, at least greatly.

Earlier this year, my sister called me and told me that my mom couldn’t move due to the pain in her right knee. She couldn’t even get off the bed to go to the washroom. So, I went there to do a treatment for her. I guess it was only when she had lost her basic dignity that she would be willing to listen to me. I told her that the reason was her diet problem, and what she should do. Only then did she carefully listen to me. After a few visits using a needle and moxibustion, she could move. The pain was still there, but she felt much better. So, I asked her to do a bit of exercise and continue the moxibustion by herself in the summer, and I occasionally gave her some customized herbal tea as well.

Now her pain is almost gone. She would feel it a bit if she walked for too long.

One of my clients came to see me around March this year. He walked in with a walking stick and suffered from left knee pain. I did balance acupuncture and bloodletting around the pain spot. Then I did 1 hour of moxibustion on him. He felt immediately loose after the treatment. The tenderness was still there, but it was much better. As he didn’t drive and had to rely on his daughter, and the cost was a burden to him, so I taught him how to do the moxibustion by himself. He only got 2 packs of long moxibustion sticks/rolls. A few days later when his daughter called to book an appointment for her mother-in-law, she told me that her dad’s knee was much better. In about a month or so, she told me he didn’t have pain anymore. And it only cost him 20 dollars for the 2 packs of moxa rolls.

I have an elderly church sister who once studied the Bible with me in the same group on Sundays. Once I found her with a walking chair and asked her what was wrong. She told me that she suffered from severe knee pain and that she couldn’t even walk. I told her to do moxibustion. As she didn’t know about moxibustion, she was a bit skeptical and thought it was just regular heat. And she said the heat doesn’t work as she had used a heating pad, and it made her pain even worse. I explained to her that the heat from moxibustion is very different. It’s not superficial. It can penetrate deeply and promote the qi flow and circulate, unlike a regular heating pad. Doubting, she bought 6 packs of moxibustion sticks/rolls, and did simple circular moxibustion around her knee. To her surprise, she felt much better after 3 days of moxibustion. When I saw her on the next Sunday, she was not using her walking chair.

My stepfather once had serious knee pain. Both of his knees were so painful and cold that he couldn’t walk very far. And if he sat for too long or just woke up in the morning, the pain was also severe. After he walked a bit, he would feel better. But if he walked for too long, he felt more pain as well. I told him to do moxibustion every day in the summertime. After half a year, his pain was almost gone. A few days ago, when he moved from one place to another, and due to wet weather on these days, he said he started to have pain again. So, he asked me for some moxibustion rolls to start doing moxibustion again.

I told my parents that I don’t have the power to return them back to the physical status of being 20 years old. Our physical bodies degenerate every day for sure. All I can do is try to maintain their health so that it doesn’t degenerate faster. I want to tell you that not all knee pain can get quick results like this. Some will take a much longer time. My friend Jenny told me that her mom, who is in her 80s, did moxibustion around her knee for about half a year, and she totally recovered.

So, if you suffer from knee pain, I suggest you do some moxibustion.

One thing I have to tell you, according to my experience, is that if there is an artificial kneecap, it would not be good to do moxibustion around this area anymore. Moxibustion could cause a special reaction. You have to do moxibustion from remote acupuncture points.

I am against knee replacement as this doesn’t solve the root problem and could cause more issues, such as water retention and swelling and leg pain. And clinically, it’s much harder to treat once you have the kneecap replaced.

Knee pain is due to different reasons. But generally speaking, it can be divided into two big categories. One category is blockage due to water retention, such as liquid, inflammation, swelling and redness, arthritis or rheumatic arthritis, or just cold pain, etc. This type is a more acute type. The other category is null pain or a weak type. This is mainly due to malnourishment or not enough qi and blood. Sometimes these two can be combined. So, for either type, moxibustion will help for sure. But depending on the body’s overall health condition, some might take longer time to heal, especially for chronic pain.