How Acupuncture can help you

Acupuncture is a system of healing which has been practised with great effect for thousands of years. Our health is dependent on the smooth, uninterrupted flow of subtle energy that runs through inter-connecting channels known as meridians in the body.

The flow of energy gets disturbed by too little or too much movement, stress, anxiety, poor nutrition, infections or trauma. When energy or Qi stagnates or diminishes, discomfort, pain or disease ensue. Acupuncture addresses the symptoms as well as the underlying cause of dis-ease.

How effective is acupuncture?

There is ongoing research into the effectiveness of acupuncture. A few sites dedicated to the publication of evidence are:

National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)
The British Acupuncture Council.

For a list of conditions where acupuncture may help:
The World Health Organisation (WHO)

Integrated Approach 

I practice Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and 5-element acupuncture. Both are holistic in nature. meaning they take the whole person into account, not just symptoms.

TCM treats the underlying physical cause of disease or imbalance and 5 -element acupuncture treats  the specific 'element', particular to you, when it is out of balance and upsets your equilibrium. This may manifest on a more emotional or spiritual level. This integrated system takes in the whole person, from the physical and emotional to the spiritual.

Your back pain may be caused by too much sitting or lifting things in the wrong way. It may also be caused by a lack of emotional support in your life, especially when you go through a difficult patch, like bereavement, a relationship break up or another big life change. Acupuncture can help.

Traditional Acupuncture vs Medical Acupuncture or Dry Needling

Dry needling and Acupuncture may use the same acupuncture needles, but are very different. Dry Needling started out as a form of treatment with hypodermic needles to stimulate trigger points. The 'dry' originates here; hypodermic needles were used without injecting any fluid. These needles are expensive and cause more bleeding and tissue trauma than fine acupuncture needles, so a switch was made to using acupuncture needles. The name Dry Needling has stuck, although both Acupuncture and Dry needling are dry as they do not inject anything.

Acupuncture has a history going back thousands of years and is based on the body's energy flow and its many meridians. It can treat trigger points, or Ah Shi points, to relieve pain and stiffness, but more importantly addresses the underlying problem that causes muscle tightness or pain.

Dry needling uses deep needling of trigger points which is often very painful, but then can release the area of stiffness. It is usually practised in conjunction with the main therapy provided, like physiotherapy or osteopathy.

Acupuncturists will have completed a four year training, whereas dry needling is mostly practiced by other health practitioners such as physiotherapists, osteopaths or doctors. Dry needling training is usually a post graduate module over a number of days.