Fire Needling
Dear Patient,
When I was in China, I learned a technique called Fire Needling. It’s pretty much what it sounds like: the tip of a needle is heated up over a flame, then the practitioner repeatedly pokes at the patient’s skin with the red hot needle.
Fire Needling was frequently utilized in the dermatology department. Say a patient came in with an itchy red rash—the doctor would prescribe a course of herbs and a round of Fire Needling. I even got to practice it on a few very tolerant and forgiving patients.
Skin rashes and other dermatological conditions are usually considered a sign of excess heat in the body, so I was curious about the rationale for introducing more heat in the form of a hot needle to treat an already too-hot body. I was trained to do the opposite: if something is too hot, you cool it off, not make it hotter.
The doctors explained the concept of “using heat to guide heat.” The hot needle draws the heat towards the surface of the skin, and ultimately out of the body through the pores.
Sometimes in life we have to draw out what might be lurking just under the surface. It’s painful at first (and yes I did submit to the Fire Needling experience myself—ouch), but it can allow us to release what’s making us unhappy or unwell. Fire Needling is just one technique for drawing out heat (and one you definitely shouldn’t try at home). Meditation, exercise, and heartfelt conversations are other ways. What’s your Fire Needling?
Love and gratitude,
Your Acupuncturist