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Moxibustion at five cun posterior to the transverse crease of the palm, left hand for males and right hand for females; seven moxa cones (Zhuang) will result in recovery. This method has been used with efficacy. Although there are many moxibustion methods for treating Ding swelling (Furuncle/Carbuncle), this one is very effective.

(Seven Pulse Chapters, One Treatise, Eighty-Seven Formulas)

A rapid pulse without body heat indicates internal carbuncle (Nei Yong).
Floating and rapid pulses usually indicate fever; if instead there is shivering aversion to cold and a painful area, it will coagulate into a carbuncle.
A floating and rapid pulse with no body heat, silent demeanor, slight dryness in the stomach, and unknown pain location indicates that the person will develop a carbuncle or swelling.
A faint and slow pulse must be accompanied by fever; a weak and rapid pulse indicates chills and impending carbuncle or swelling.
Whenever the pulse is slippery and rapid: slippery indicates excess, rapid indicates heat. Slippery corresponds to Ying (Nutritive Qi), rapid corresponds to Wei (Defensive Qi). When Ying and Wei meet, they coagulate into a carbuncle. Wherever heat passes, it becomes pus from a carbuncle. There is pain in the body, suffering from sores from time to time.
Question: A Cun Kou (Radial Artery) pulse that is faint and slippery typically indicates blood loss or sweating. If there is no sweating, what happens? Answer: If there are sores on the body caused by knife or instrument injuries, it is due to blood loss.
A Fu Yang (Dorsalis Pedis Artery) pulse that is slippery and rapid typically indicates tenesmus or Shaoyin disease. A slippery and rapid pulse in women indicates sores in the vagina.
Treatise says: Carbuncles and Jiu (Deep-seated abscesses) start extremely small, and people do not consider them urgent, but this is actually a strange disaster, requiring swift treatment. Slight delay leads to disease formation. Many disasters arise from this. Regarding Back Carbuncles specifically: thin skin indicates Yong (Superficial Abscess); thick skin indicates Ju (Deep Abscess); urgent treatment is required.
When a carbuncle or abscess first appears, it may resemble a small boil, cause severe pain, mild pain, or appear like a rice-grain-sized white pustule. These are minor signs that require careful observation. Upon seeing any slight abnormality, one must be alarmed, immediately attack the condition, restrict diet, and quickly take various decoctions to drain heat toxins. If medicine is unavailable, moxa-burn the center of the lesion one hundred times. For severe cases, moxa-burn the four sides and center two to three hundred times; frequent moxibustion need not be excessive. Apply various cooling medicines for rescue; recovery will surely be swift.
When applying medicinal plasters, a hole should be made at the head of the sore to allow heat qi to escape. Alternatively, use a fire needle to puncture the center four fen deep for recovery.
For carbuncles, abscesses, tumors, stone carbuncles, knotted sinews, and scrofula, direct puncture with needles or horn-tips is contraindicated. Puncturing with horns causes harm only if used excessively.
For any carbuncle, regardless of size, upon detection, take gum resin the size of a palm, soften it in warm water, make a hole the size of a coin eye in the center, and apply it to the swelling so it fits perfectly. It will dry and tighten shortly. If no pus has formed, growth will stop. If pus has formed, it will discharge naturally. If a sharp needle is used to pierce the pus through the hole, it is excellent; remove the gum only after full recovery.
Any swelling with a root less than one cun wide is called a Jie (Boil); over one cun is a Xiao Yong (Small Carbuncle); bean-sized is a Feizi (Pustule). All are in early stages. Immediately administer Wuxiang Lianqiao Tang (Five-Spice Forsythia Decoction) to purge; continue until recovered.
For carbuncles that are high, large, and not very hot, or those with flat flesh, no point, and purple color, attack therapy is unnecessary. Simply use Zhuye Huangqi Tang (Leafy Honeysuckle and Astragalus Decoction) to circulate qi. Flat flesh indicates no pus. For sudden carbuncle pain, apply Bawei Huangqi San (Eight-Ingredient Astragalus Powder). Large carbuncles last seven days, small ones five days. If hard ones break spontaneously, let them break. For breast carbuncles, if too hot to touch, first ingest Wangbuliuxing San (Vaccaria Seed Powder), then rub Fa Bei Gao (Back Carbuncle Ointment). For broken back sores without pain, or breast sores, wait until fully mature (rising instantly upon pressure indicates maturity), then needle. Needling must reach the pus; gauge depth carefully, not exceeding one cun for chest and back. If no pus is found, apply Shirou Gao San (Flesh-Eating Ointment Powder) to the sharp tip and insert into the carbuncle mouth. If body heat subsides, take Muzhansi San (Cassia Seed Powder). After five days, when the carbuncle begins to scab, take Painong Fengsai San (Drain-Pus Wind-Seal Powder).
After a carbuncle breaks, if the patient feels limp and dying, with internal cold and external heat (text missing), and swelling resembles a carbuncle but is not one, pressing the swelling reveals no connection; this is Wind-Toxin, do not needle. Take Shengma Tang (Cimicifuga Decoction) and apply ointment externally. For broken carbuncle openings, leave the upper third un-punctured and needle the lower one-third. Ensure extreme heat to relieve pain. For broken, ruined sores not healing, wash with Zhu Ti Tang (Pig Trotter Decoction) twice daily. Two days in summer, six to seven days in winter. Half a dose of soup suffices. For bad flesh remaining after carbuncle breakdown, wash with Zhu Ti Tang to remove filth, then apply Shirou Gao San. Once bad flesh is clean, apply Shengrou Gao San (Flesh-Regenerating Ointment Powder) and massage the edges to promote rapid healthy tissue growth. Abstain from sexual activity, avoid wind and cold, do not overexert. Wait for meridians and sinews to recover before resuming normal activities. New flesh is easily injured; injury leads to internal collapse, recurrence, and difficult rescue. Be cautious. White scabs are most taboo.
For all sudden swellings, varying in nature, regardless of distance, take Wuxiang Lianqiao Tang. Prick to release blood, apply Vigna Angularis (Adzuki Bean) powder. Frequently prick with needles to release blood during this period. If treatment was delayed and ulceration occurred, still take Wuxiang Tang and Loulu Tang to purge. Use according to the degree of heat. Externally, wash and compress with Shengma Tang, massage with Shengma Gao. (Both formulas see Dan Du chapter later). If polyps grow, apply Bai Luan Ru San (Bai Luan Root Powder). Stop when black/green flesh is gone; apply Shengma Gao for healthy flesh. If muscle does not grow, apply Yi Wu Huangqi San (Single-Ingredient Astragalus Powder). If using Bai Luan Ru and black/green bad flesh remains, mix half a qian of Qitou Bai Luan San (Lac-head Bai Luan Powder) with three qian of Bai Luan San, and apply gradually. Each powder should be ground separately according to its color, sifted, and used as prepared. These methods (Ji Yan uses them for slow Jiu).
If sudden pain occurs in the body, feeling like being beaten, everyone calls it Qi Pain. Unbearable pain, wandering without rest, occurring at specific times, slightly hot during pain, cold after pain stops. This is caused by contracting Warm Qi in winter, followed by violent Cold in spring, where wind attacks, failing to become Warm Disease, but becoming Qi Pain. First take Wuxiang Lianqiao Tang, massage Danshen Gao (Salvia Miltiorrhiza Ointment). Also decoct Liuyang Pi (Willow Bark) in white wine and apply warm compresses. If red spots appear, prick to bleed. Wuxiang Lianqiao Tang and Xiaozhuli Tang (Small Bamboo Sap Decoction) can be taken for several doses. Do not stop because one dose failed, thinking the medicine is ineffective, or disaster will follow. Using Baiwei San (Cynanchum Atratum Powder) in between is good.
There is also Qi Swelling and Pain, resembling a carbuncle, with no head, hollow swelling, unchanged color, tight skin pain, untouchable. Must also take this Wuxiang Tang, then needle with white needles to drain, then apply Jili San (Tribulus Terrestris Powder).
For chest pain and shortness of breath, enter a dark room, press the left eye with the middle finger. If light is seen, there is a knotting carbuncle in the chest. If no light is seen...
The Classic states: Qi lodges in the meridians, Qi and Blood become stagnant and do not flow, obstructing and knotting into carbuncles and abscesses. It also says: Heat acts, subsequently becoming carbuncles; Yang Qi gathers, Cold transforms into Heat, Heat excess rots flesh into pus. Because the body has Heat, struck by Cold, causing pulse coagulation and stagnation, Heat Qi obstructs and knots into carbuncles and abscesses. Formulas include moxibustion and warming treatments. When internal cold has not yet turned to heat, apply cooling medicines. When heat has formed, clear heat to prevent pus formation. For red swelling with a pointed head, apply Licorice Ointment (Lilu Gao). Another method: mix vinegar with Clam Ash, apply, change when dry.
I have suffered from carbuncles and abscesses multiple times in my life, recording those that were effective. Investigating their source, they are mostly caused by medicinal fumes, or taking Stone Medicines in past generations, leading descendants to often suffer this disease. In diet, one should especially avoid noodles, alcohol, garlic, and warm beds/thick quilts. Those who are cautious can remain free of other ailments throughout life. These are personally verified, hence specially discussed.