There are some records about the needling and moxibustion sensations in Chinese ancient medical literature

in which

the concept of Deqi(qi arrival)and its relationship with the production of therapeutic effects were put forward.The generation of needling or moxibustion sensations is one of the symbol for qi reaching the affected site during the manipulation and is also related to the treatment outcomes.In the present paper

we reviewed current situations about the mechanisms of acupuncture and moxibustion stimulation induced sensations and their relation to the propagated sensation(PS)published in recent 10 years from the following four aspects:1)the patterns of manifestation of needling sensations(including general sensations

and specific sensations

as well as the practitioner's hand felt heavy

tight

hard-going senses

etc.)and moxibustion sensations(local superficial and deep warmth);2)modern anatomical and physiological basis(skin

loose and dense connective tissue

free nerve ending

various receptors);3)neurohumoral mechanism of acupuncture stimulation induced PS phenomenon(mechanical receptors

afferent and efferent nerve fibers

neural center

various neurotransmitters/modulators

chemical substances

etc.);4)neurohumoral mechanism of moxibustion stimulation induced channel transmission(transient receptor potential vanilloid receptors-heat sensitive receptors

heat-shock protein

immunocytes

etc.).Additionally

the authors also put forward some suggestions about future researches on acupuncture-moxibustion sensations.