Acupuncturist insert ultra-fine needles into specific points on the body (each point has a unique benefit) aiming to balance, harmonise and heal a persons constitution and well being. The needles tap into our body’s vital energy or Qi (pronounced chee). Tapping into these paths of Qi is believed to re-balance our bodies Qi when it is out of balance or unable to move freely around the body. Thereby alleviating symptoms of pain, illness or disease. Acupuncture treats the person as a whole not just the aliment and in our increasingly stressful contemporary world, it can help to restore the bodies natural balance and equilibrium. In China people regularly see an acupuncturist to maintain good health, here in the Western World, acupuncture is fastly becoming increasingly popular as people are seeking a more holistic and natural way to achieve good health. It is often used to treat muscular injury and pain relief, but can also treat many other issues such as fertility, menopause, allergies, emotional issues such as anxiety and stress, sleep issues, digestive problems and much more (see below for some examples)...

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• Pain Management 

• Muscular Injury or Pain

• Hormone Issues

• Fertility

• Menopause

• Skin Issues

• Digestive Issues

• Depression

• Anxiety and Stress

• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

• Grief, Loss, or Bereavement

• Other Issues

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Does it hurt?

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Acupuncture needles are solid and very, very fine (Approx 0.05-0.2 of a mm) and feel nothing like a doctors hollow injection needle. You may not feel the needle go in at all. We have more nerve endings in our face, hands and feet and it's likely these will be more sensitive than the rest of the body. Patients very often feel a mild pricking sensation and then a dull sensation or warming sensation as the needle touches the point of energy. 

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Are the needles sterile?  

 

Yes. We use a clean needle technique with branded quality disposable (individual use only) needles. These are opened from individual sterile packages for every treatment and disposed responsibly.

 

Where do the needles go?  

 

Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners believe the human body has more than 2,000 acupuncture points connected by pathways or meridians. 361 of these are now considered standardized acupoints. There are however around 12 different types of acupuncture being performed in the world today, and each of these may vary in the points they use. All types of acupuncture treatment aim to improve health and wellbeing and I practise a mixture of Traditional Chinese, Five Element and Tung acupuncture. Sometimes it isn't obvious why the needles are inserted in a particular place on the body. This is because our body is connected from head to toe both muscularly and through the meridian pathways, thereby if we want to influence the shoulder we may choose points on the hand or leg rather than going straight to the site of pain, for example. 

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How long are treatments? 

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Treatments are between 45 mins and 1 Hour long.  The first treatment may be up to 1.5 hours. In this inital treatment a full patient history is taken and a little time spent getting to know you and give you time to ask any questions you may have. Very often we do not treat the issue until the second appointment as it can take time to gather all the information we need at the beginning.

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How many treatments will I need? 

 

This varies between patients and the severity of the condition. Generally it is good to see a patient once a week for 4 or 6 weeks to allow the body time to benefit and rebalance. There after the patient and practitioner can decide how often it would be for the best outcome. 

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Contraindications 

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As with any medical treatment, there are certain contraindications for acupuncture treatments, including:

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• Drug or alcohol intoxication

• Use of a pacemaker

• A seizure disorder

• Bleeding disorder such as hemophilia or use of blood thinners

• Infections skin disorder or disease

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And lastly please let me know if you are pregnant, or trying to get pregnant, needling in the abdominal and lumbosacral area should be avoided. There are also certain points eslewhere on the body which should not be needled as they may stimulate early labour.