Editor's note: Traditional Chinese acupuncture is a practice that has been passed down for centuries and is known for its effective healing properties. Today, let's take a look at the legendary story of Li Lixia and her use of the fire needle technique.
Fire needle is a mysterious and miraculous acupuncture technique.
A special alloy-made fire needle gradually turns from black to bright red under the flame of an alcohol lamp. When the needle point becomes bright red, Dr. Li Lixia quickly picks up the fire needle and swiftly "stabs" the patient's acupoints. As the fiery needle pierces through the skin, the patient lying on the bed occasionally furrows their brows.
After a few stabs, when the needle point has cooled down, Dr. Li Lixia, the head of the acupuncture department at Guangzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, puts away the fire needle, heats up the needle point again, and continues to "stab" the patient's affected area.
Three minutes later, Dr. Li Lixia stands up, extinguishes the alcohol lamp, and on the patient's back, there are dozens of small red dots, scattered around a series of herpes zoster blisters and sores.
"Does it hurt?"
"Not at all, it's actually quite comfortable. Compared to the pain of herpes zoster, this little bit of pain is nothing..."
These were the words of a patient in his forties who had just undergone fire needle treatment for herpes zoster. His back and abdomen were covered with large areas of herpes zoster, with some areas already developing into sores, causing both pain and itching. In his own words, when the pain becomes unbearable, he feels like cutting off the entire area with blisters using a knife.
According to Dr. Li Lixia, compared to when he first entered the hospital, the range of herpes zoster, both in terms of area and degree of suppuration, has significantly decreased after three sessions of fire needle treatment. Some areas have started to scab and peel off, and the pain has noticeably decreased. All of this can be attributed to this small "fire needle".
The fire needle technique, also known as burned needle, heated needle, or cauterizing needle, is one of the "big needles" among the nine needles used in ancient times.
This special acupuncture technique uses specially made needles, which are heated and quickly inserted into acupoints or certain parts of the body to treat diseases. According to traditional Chinese medicine theory, fire needle has many effects, such as dispelling cold and dampness, warming meridians and relieving pain, assisting yang and transforming qi, dispersing pathogenic factors and resolving masses, tonifying yang and replenishing deficiencies, raising yang and lifting sinking, promoting tissue regeneration and healing wounds, and eliminating necrotic tissue and draining pus.
Dr. Li Lixia has dedicated more than 20 years to studying and practicing fire needle therapy, and she has become skilled in its clinical application.
