The burning of a small, thimble sized, smoldering plug of dried leaves on the SKIN at an ACUPUNCTURE point. Usually the plugs contain leaves of MUGWORT or moxa.

Designated locations along nerves or organ meridians for inserting acupuncture needles.

The artificial alteration of the fetal position to facilitate birth.

Treatment of disease by inserting needles along specific pathways or meridians. The placement varies with the disease being treated. It is sometimes used in conjunction with heat, moxibustion, acupressure, or electric stimulation.

Contractions of the abdominal muscles upon stimulation of the skin (superficial abdominal reflex) or tapping neighboring bony structures (deep abdominal reflex). The superficial reflex may be weak or absent, for example, after a stroke, a sign of upper (suprasegmental) motor neuron lesions. (Stedman, 25th ed & Best & Taylor's Physiological Basis of Medical Practice, 12th ed, p1073)

A system of traditional medicine which is based on the beliefs and practices of the Chinese culture.

Analgesia produced by the insertion of ACUPUNCTURE needles at certain ACUPUNCTURE POINTS on the body. This activates small myelinated nerve fibers in the muscle which transmit impulses to the spinal cord and then activate three centers - the spinal cord, midbrain and pituitary/hypothalamus - to produce analgesia.

Restoration of human functions to the maximum degree possible in a person or persons suffering from disease or injury.

Evaluation undertaken to assess the results or consequences of management and procedures used in combating disease in order to determine the efficacy, effectiveness, safety, and practicability of these interventions in individual cases or series.

Works about clinical trials that involve at least one test treatment and one control treatment, concurrent enrollment and follow-up of the test- and control-treated groups, and in which the treatments to be administered are selected by a random process, such as the use of a random-numbers table.

The number of units (persons, animals, patients, specified circumstances, etc.) in a population to be studied. The sample size should be big enough to have a high likelihood of detecting a true difference between two groups. (From Wassertheil-Smoller, Biostatistics and Epidemiology, 1990, p95)

Sharp instruments used for puncturing or suturing.