San Fu Moxibustion Available By Appointment
We’re excited to offer San Fu Moxibustion this year! San Fu Moxibustion (or Moxa for short) uses hot, warming herbs applied to specific acupuncture points on the back and/or torso during the hottest days of the year to prevent cold, damp diseases in the winter.
The herbs are hot in terms of their medicinal property. You know how ginger and cinnamon are warm, and mint is cool? Herbal medicine uses these properties for health. These particular herbs are not just warm – they’re hot.
Why Use San Fu Moxa?
Do you get colds a lot in the winter? Do your hands and feet feel frozen with just a bit of colder weather? Chinese medicine wants to add warmth to help things flow, and boost the immune system so you can fight off colds.
Acupuncture uses the resources we already have inside of us to heal. Herbal medicine can add resources to the body (or help us get rid of excess, no-longer-useful material built up in the body). San Fu is a way to use the power of herbs for health, without drinking bitter teas for months. It provides an annual reset for people who suffer from frequent colds, flu, asthma, or bronchitis, and can improve circulation to hands and feet, by giving the body more internal resources.
Do you have symptoms that tend to be worse in colder weather? Ask your acupuncturist if San Fu Moxa could be helpful.
Click here to schedule your San Fu Moxibustion treatment now.
When Is San Fu Used?
The dates change each year, because they are based on Daoist cosmology, not the Gregorian calendar.
San Fu is sometimes translated as the “three hidings” since it references three 10-day periods that are predicted to be the hottest days of the year – or what we sometimes call in English “the dog days of summer”. The treatment is given on the first day of each Fu period; so the patient comes in once every 10 days to have the paste taped to points mostly located either on their back or lower legs. Traditional Chinese hospitals are known to have lines out the doors on the Fu days with patients waiting for hours to have their points taped.
– Dr. Heidi Lovie, DACM, on her San Fu Moxa page
In 2026, the dates are
San Fu 1: July 15
San Fu 2: July 25
San Fu 3: August 4
San Fu 4: August 14
We’ll use different points each time. San Fu is most effective when you come in for a treatment on all 4 dates.
What’s In the San Fu Moxa?
We’re using a formula from China Herb Co. which is equal parts Xi Xin (Radix et Rhizoma Asari), Bai Jie Zi (Semen Sinapis), Yan Hu Suo (Rhizoma Corydalis), Lai Fu Zi (Semen Raphani), Xuan Fu Hua (Flos Inulae), and Wu Zhu Yu (Fructus Evodiae). Please do not get San Fu Moxa if you’re allergic to any of these ingredients!
What can I expect at this visit?
This treatment is by appointment only. We’ll be treating people one at a time, using a massage table. Please be on time. Try to wear something that lets you easily expose your back for treatment, so you don’t have to undress.
We’ll locate the points, apply small balls of herbs, and tape them down using Tegaderm bandages. You will get printed aftercare instructions. Within minutes or hours, you may feel irritation, heat, or itching at the points. You can take the herbs off at any time. Don’t force yourself to keep them on if it’s too uncomfortable! Even if you feel nothing, take them off after 6 hours.
A blister may form at each point. Care for this the way you would any blister: cover with a neutral ointment and/or gauze. Some people get permanent or semi-permanent marks. These can be treated with scar strips or other scar treatments.
How much are you charging?
We’re sticking with a $30-$60 sliding scale. 12 hours’ notice is required to cancel or you will be charged a $30 late cancel/no-show fee. (Unless you’re sick. If you are sick, please cancel – no charge.)
Dr. Heidi Lovie, DACM Explains San Fu Moxibustion:
By Appointment Only – Click Here to Book Your San Fu Moxibustion Visit at Boston Acupuncture Project.
