Long Covid - A practical Self-Care Tip - Moxibustion on Acupoint Stomach 36

You can learn how to perform moxa on acupoint Stomach 36 (ST 36) in this free self-help video short.

Videography/Video Editing Credit: K.E. Dorham, https://BlackNovaEntertainment.com/
Music Credit: Ricardo Love, https://qualified2love.com/

How to Moxa Stomach 36 (ST 36)

​You can see moxa equipment to perform self-moxa in this free self-help video short.

Videography/Video Editing Credit: K.E. Dorham, https://BlackNovaEntertainment.com/
Music Credit: Ricardo Love, https://qualified2love.com/

Moxa Equipment for Self-Care Moxa

New research shows that patients with Long Covid have problems with platelet hyperactivity and microclotting.  Many suffer the effects of Long Covid, often discovering difficulty in obtaining legitimacy in the allopathic field, and even more challenges in remedying the range of debilitating symptoms: fatigue, dizziness, neurological symptoms, shortness-of-breath, cough, feeling worse after exercise or motion, fast or pounding heartbeat, difficulty thinking (brain fog), headaches, insomnia, depression, anxiety, joint pain, muscle aches, long-term changes to taste or smell, and neuropathy, to name just a few. Our society has a long way to go to completely understand the pathology and negative sequalae that Covid has placed upon our population. 

The simple strategy outlined below offers a pathway toward reducing inflammatory cytokines, interleukin 1β, interleukin 6, and improving quality-of-life measures (like debilitating fatigue) that are correlated with Long Covid.  Using the technique of applying moxibustion to the acupoint Stomach 36 (ST 36) can reduce innate and adaptive cytokines, monocytes, macrophages, regulate immune system, increase white blood cell production, and increase blood flow, movement, and oxygenation.  One study even showed that applying moxa on ST 36 helped to reduce inflammatory and interleukin response in the hippocampus in the brain.  Other studies on rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis demonstrated a marked decline in joint pain after applying moxa to ST 36.

Moxabustion on Stomach 36 facilitates healing for:

• General deficiency: fatigue, depression, anxiety, dizziness, palpitations, shortness of breath, poor appetite, lassitude, insomnia
• Digestive issues: gastric pain, vomiting, nausea, borborygmus, diarrhea, constipation, indigestion, dysentery, 
• Immune regulation and pain: joint pain, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, inflammation, autoimmune diseases,
• Dampness: edema

Long Covid:

• Research on Long Covid shows two distinctive pathways towards improving quality of life: platelet coagulation and microclotting. 
• Moxibustion on ST 36 is an incredibly powerful way to begin improving some of the primary causes along with improving specific quality of life indicators like fatigue.
• Chinese herbal medicine such as anti-platelet herbs or blood movers targeting different affected areas (heart, chest, abdomen, blood vessels, small channels and collaterals) must only be performed by a qualified Chinese medicine practitioner, enacting a pattern-based diagnosis, and ensuring compliance with all contraindications (blood movers are contraindicated for anyone taking blood thinners or anti-coagulants).
• Acupuncture can also supplement quality of life indicators for people suffering from the negative sequelae of Long Covid.
• Tips for Avoiding Long Covid.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SsTWkx6tD0

Relevant Long Covid Research:

• Three theories include immune abnormalities, microclotting, and lingering virus.  https://www.science.org/content/article/what-causes-long-covid-three-leading-theories
• Persistent clotting protein pathology in Long Covid.  https://cardiab.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12933-021-01359-7
• Amyloid fibrin microclots in Long Covid.  https://portlandpress.com/biochemj/article/479/4/537/230829/A-central-role-for-amyloid-fibrin-microclots-in
• Hyperactivated platelets and microclots in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (pre-print). https://www.scienceopen.com/document?vid=85e66864-71af-4c56-b3cf-6f99d02477eb

Research on Moxa Stomach 36:

• Decreases inflammatory cytokines, interleukin 1β [IL-1β], interleukin-6 [IL-6] in lab tests, reduces pain in lab studies on rheumatoid arthritis.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7495223/
• Regulates innate and adaptive cytokines, monocytes, macrophages, decreases IL-1β, reduces pain, inhibits immune cell communication networks (autoimmune disease). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7936911/
• Reduces inflammatory response (IL6) in the hippocampus, improves exercise-induced fatigue. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnint.2019.00048/full
• Alleviates cartilage degradation in lab studies on rheumatoid arthritis. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2019/6436420/
• Reduces neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and quality of life in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0254627218306368
• Improves quality of life measures: lassitude, shortness of breath, poor appetite, dizziness and vertigo, complexion, palpitations, soreness and weakness of the lumbar region, and knee joint pain. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30942030/
• Expands blood vessel, blood movement, and oxygenation of cells. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30942030/
• Heat-sensitive moxibustion had neuroprotective effects against focal ischemia/reperfusion injury. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4200727/
• Improves white blood cell counts in immuno-compromised lab studies. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26669198/
• Increases leukocyte counts in leukemia. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2020/5691468/
• Improves quality of life and balance, decreases serum inflammatory factors (C-reactive protein (CRP, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interleukin-9 (IL-8).C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interleukin-8 (IL-8).  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35237338/
• Mechanisms of ancient theories on efficacy of moxibustion.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3789413/

Special thanks to K.E. Dorham for videography and video editing and to Ricardo Love for original music.