How do you make a diagnosis?As well as listening to your symptoms and asking about your past health, I will feel your pulses in three positions on each wrist, and look at your tongue. These are important traditional diagnostic methods that can provide a great deal of useful information about your health. Acupuncture is based on the principles of traditional Chinese medicine.
How is traditional Chinese medicine different to Western medicine?
What I love about Chinese medicine is its holistic nature; it allows me to treat the person who is suffering from the illness, rather than the illness. Chinese medicine recognises that we respond to illness in different ways, and that treatment needs to be matched to the individual. Chinese medicine also acknowledges the relationship between our physical and mental/emotional/spiritual experience. For example, one person may get back pain when they feel overloaded with stress, while another's may be worse in cold weather or when they are tired after standing all day. Chinese medicine is also holistic in the sense that it aims to uncover and treat the underlying causes of illness, as well as treating the symptoms.
What I love about Chinese medicine is its holistic nature; it allows me to treat the person who is suffering from the illness, rather than the illness. Chinese medicine recognises that we respond to illness in different ways, and that treatment needs to be matched to the individual. Chinese medicine also acknowledges the relationship between our physical and mental/emotional/spiritual experience. For example, one person may get back pain when they feel overloaded with stress, while another's may be worse in cold weather or when they are tired after standing all day. Chinese medicine is also holistic in the sense that it aims to uncover and treat the underlying causes of illness, as well as treating the symptoms.
What can acupuncture treat?
Because acupuncture focuses on the person with the illness, rather than the illness, it can be of benefit in many situations. Some conditions may respond to treatment quickly, but chronic and underlying conditions should improve gradually over a course of treatment. My aim is to try and bring about an overall improvement in wellbeing as well as treating the main symptoms. It is part of my role to offer advice on diet, exercise and lifestyle where this can help you.
Because acupuncture focuses on the person with the illness, rather than the illness, it can be of benefit in many situations. Some conditions may respond to treatment quickly, but chronic and underlying conditions should improve gradually over a course of treatment. My aim is to try and bring about an overall improvement in wellbeing as well as treating the main symptoms. It is part of my role to offer advice on diet, exercise and lifestyle where this can help you.
What other techniques do you use?Cupping is a traditional technique which is very useful for muscle/joint pain, or when you have a cold. A vacuum is made in glass containers which are placed on the affected area, creating suction. Research at Portsmouth University has shown that cupping reduces inflammation.
What is moxibustion?Moxibustion is used when part of the body needs to be warmed. Moxa (mugwort, or artemisia vulgaris latiflora for the gardeners) is burnt either directly on the skin or on the needle handle.
What about Chinese herbs?These are useful as a stand alone therapy, or used alongside acupuncture or shiatsu. Based on traditional formulae with a long history of use in China, they are conveniently taken as pills. Prescribed by a properly trained practitioner, Chinese herbs have an excellent safety record, and are guaranteed to contain only properly sourced plant materials. You can read more about Chinese herbs on the website of the Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine.