Never Burn a Moxa Roll Inside the House

Well, Monday I went to see the acupuncturist again. This time she treated my allergies and my arthritis by putting a needle in each hand, 2 needles on each foot, and about 25 needles in my back long my spine and hips. This was Monday afternoon. I have to say that my left hip has not started hurting again and it was over 24 hours before my right hip started hurting again. It is very uncommon for me to go that length of time without any pain, so I'm pretty happy about that.

This time she also gave me what is called a moxa roll. It's a roll of Chinese motherwart and is used by burning it (a smoldering burn) and holding it near a specific pressure point at your leg. It's suppose to boost the immune system. Now she told me to do this in a well ventilated area, like outside. Well it was chilly in Northwest Arkansas last night to say the least so I was not looking forward to sitting outside holding a stick of burning herbs up to my leg, but I was going to do it. However, Ryan convinced me somehow that it would be ok to do it in the guest bathroom with the vent running.

Big mistake for a couple of reasons. One the smell was bad even with the vent on. Two neither of us are smokers so we were not really good at "stamping" the stick out and the doctor said that using water wasn't advised because it might not have time to dry out before I needed to use it again. Well we did not get the dang thing put out all the way and it continued to smolder in the shut up bathroom and the only reason we realized it was the intake to the air system is near that door and it kicked on and then blow the moxa smell throughout the whole house.

So the lesson here is that you should listen to the doctor when they suggest that you burn the moxa roll outside, and not listen to your husband when he tells you it will be fine in the guest bathroom with the vent on.