Effect of Acupuncture With Thermal Stimulation (Moxibustion) at BL 13 and LU 9 on Pulmonary Function in a Patient With Bronchial Asthma: A Case Report

Abstract

A 32-year-old male with a 20-year history of bronchial asthma presented to our outpatient department with complaints of cough and dyspnea persisting for the past 12 days. He underwent acupuncture and moxibustion (thermal stimulation) at BL 13 and LU 9 for 20 min daily for 10 days. His pulmonary function was assessed using spirometry at baseline and after 10 days. The results showed improvement in forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), and forced vital capacity ratio (FEV1/FVC) ratio, mean forced expiratory flow during the middle half of FVC (FEF) (25%–75%), and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR). The findings suggest that acupuncture with moxibustion (thermal stimulation) at BL 13 and LU 9 could be used as an effective adjunct treatment to improve pulmonary function in patients with bronchial asthma. However, larger-scale studies are required to substantiate the findings.

Keywords

acupuncture bronchial asthma moxibustion pulmonary function test

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