Abstract：Objective：To evaluate the clinical effect of moxibustion therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) at active stage by 7-joint ultrasound score (US7). Methods：A total of 42 RA patients at active stage were randomly divided into the observation group and the control group，with 21 cases in each group. The control group was treated with routine disease- modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs)， and the observation group was treated with moxibustion at Zusanli point (ST 36)，Shenshu point (BL 23)，and Ashi points based on the treatment of the control group. Both groups were treated for 4 weeks. The clinical effects， serological indicators， and ultrasound parameter scores were compared and analyzed between the two groups before and after treatment. Results： The total effective rate was 90.5% in the observation group and 61.9% in the control group，the difference being significant (P＜0.05). After treatment，the US7 scores including scores of joint effusion， synovial hyperplasia， and synovial blood flow in the two groups were decreased，differences being significant (P＜0.05)，and the above indicators in the observation group were lower than those in the control group， differences being significant (P＜0.05). There was no significant difference being found in the comparison of scores of cortical and cartilage injuries between the two groups (P＞0.05). After treatment， the DAS28 score， erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)， C- reactive protein (CRP)， and rheumatoid factor (RF) levels in the observation group were decreased， differences being significant (P＜0.05). The DAS28 score in the control group was lower than that before treatment， the difference being significant (P＜0.05)，and the DAS28 score in the observation group was lower than those in the control group， differences being significant (P＜0.05). There was no significant differences being found in the comparison of CRP and RF between the two groups (P＞0.05). Conclusion： Moxibustion combined with DMARDs can alleviate joint synovitis in RA patients at active stage，inhibit disease activity， whose clinical effect is superior to that of simple DMARDs treatment， and US7 can provide objective imaging basis.