Moxibustion Stick to Breech Baby Does It Work
What Is Moxibustion and Can It Aid Turn a Breech Baby?
The traditional Chinese practise of moxibustion is 1 of the world's oldest techniques for turning a breech babe—and OB-GYNs still prescribe it today. Here's why, when, and how this alternative therapy is done.
Moxibustion is an culling therapy from traditional Chinese medicine that involves burning the herb mugwort (or moxa) well-nigh specific points forth a set of invisible, vertical lines that cross the trunk, known as meridians. Practitioners believe these meridians correspond to specific organs and, when stimulated, can strengthen blood flow and prompt the release of certain hormones.
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In the U.S., moxibustion is taught as function of the typical curriculum for a degree in acupuncture and but licensed acupuncturists tin perform information technology. Moxibustion tin can be combined with acupuncture treatment or washed on its own with moxa sticks.
Moxibustion for a Breech Baby
Amidst other things, moxibustion is used to care for breech presentation, when an unborn baby is positioned with her bottom or feet toward the cervix tardily in pregnancy. "If I were to diagnose a breech presentation early in the 3rd trimester, I would recommend acupuncture and the use of mugwort," says Marsha Granese, an OB-GYN with Mission Infirmary in California.
There are several theories equally to how moxibustion works. "It is thought that stimulating the terminal betoken on the float elevation brings movement to the kidney channel and helps the babe to turn," says Tom Ingegno, a licensed acupuncturist and doctor of acupuncture and Chinese medicine (DACM) with a master's in Oriental medicine (MSOM) who practices with Charm City Integrative Health in Baltimore.
When moxibustion is combined with acupuncture, the practitioner wraps a small amount of stale mugwort atop a needle that is already in the acupuncture point and lights it. This creates a warming sensation in the skin. A cone of moxa may besides be placed directly on the acupuncture signal and lit, with the practitioner taking care to extinguish it earlier it touches pare. A 3rd grade of moxibustion—indirect—involves lighting cigar-sized moxibustion sticks virtually the points and holding them shut until their rut reddens the skin.
"Ane theory, from a Western medical perspective, is that the heat encourages the release of ii specific hormones in pregnancy, placental estrogen and prostaglandins," says Kristen Burris, MSTOM, a licensed acupuncturist with Eagle Acupuncture in Idaho. This tin lead to balmy uterine contractions, helping the baby to move into an optimal, head-downwardly position for a vaginal birth.
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Moxibustion is techniques used in Oriental medicine to improve health by stimulating the peak points, through which the body's vital energy, know every bit chi, is believe to flow.
| Credit: Getty Images
Is Moxibustion Safe?
Dr. Granese has prescribed moxibustion for breech presentation before 36 weeks. "I would refer the patient to a Chinese medicine provider who knows the acupuncture points and herbs used to relax the uterus," she says. "Mugwort is a natural muscle relaxant."
When moxibustion is performed in a clinical setting, the risks associated with information technology are so minimal "they're hardly worth mentioning," says Burris. Those risks include nausea from the aroma of burning mugwort, and burns and blisters if the ignited herb comes in contact with the skin. "However, in twenty years of do none of my patients has ever experienced an inappropriate burn down from moxibustion," she adds.
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Moxibustion at Abode
Whether or not it's safe to practice moxibustion at home depends on who you lot ask. Burris, for case, says although she's aware other practitioners give their patients moxibustion sticks to use at home, her exercise advises against information technology. "Moxibustion only takes a few treatments in the office, and success rates are much higher and safer when performed by a professional person," she says.
But Ingegno says moxibustion can exist performed at home using sticks, under the training and supervision of a licensed acupuncturist. "The moxa sticks need to be held at a comfortable altitude to warm the area and not fire the motherhoped-for," says Ingegno. However, burning moxa direct on the indicate is not an at-home technique and should simply be performed in a clinical setting, Ingegno warns.
Moxibustion Benefits and Success Charge per unit
While learning you have a breech babe is no doubtfulness a stressful situation, moxibustion can be quite relaxing. At Integrative Acupuncture in Vermont, acupuncturist Kerry Boyle, M.S., Fifty.Ac., holds a moxibustion stick above the mother'due south pinky toe when performing moxibustion for a breech infant. "Connective tissue and nerve channels link this area to the uterus and crusade it to relax," says Boyle. "We add acupuncture needles to the ears and anxiety to further the relaxation of mom."
Moxibustion for a breech babe is usually performed between weeks 34 and 36 of pregnancy, and may exist prescribed as an culling or precursor to an external cephalic version (ECV). With both moxibustion and a version, the goal is to encourage the baby's motion to a caput-first or "vertex" position and then that a vaginal birth is possible. If both moxibustion and version are unsuccessful, your doctor will likely recommend birth by scheduled C-department.
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When combined with in-part treatments and daily moxibustion at home, Ingegno says his practice has seen a lxx per centum success rate with moxibustion for breech babies. "Mod studies ostend that moxibustion does increase the success of the fetus repositioning, but well-nigh of these studies are small," he says. "Factors like how far along the pregnancy is tin affect the upshot. The best success seems to occur when nosotros intervene at 34 weeks, even so, this leaves nearly a month and a half before the expected delivery date in which a decent per centum of babies would turn on their own."
Source: https://www.parents.com/pregnancy/complications/what-is-moxibustion-and-can-ithelp-turn-breech-babies/
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