Acupuncture for Pain

I will first take a detailed medical history to better understand the condition that you are coming with, this is an important step, and expect to answer a variety of questions about both your physical and sometimes emotional condition where relevent.

In the clinic you then rest on a comfortable treatment couch in a super peaceful treatment room, and then ultra fine needles are inserted into specific points on the body.

Sometimes I may also use a smouldering herb called ‘moxa’ to warm these points, and cupping therapy to ease muscular pain. A very usual aspect of treatment I add now is the use of a heat lamp and a special salve (made right here in the clinic). This is used to ease muscle and joint pain and is really effective!

The benefits of acupuncture therapy can be grouped into three broad categories of action:

‍Relaxing Tension, Boosting Vitality and Calming Anxiety

These three actions are a catchphrase of treatment, and actually underpin some of the key theories and mechanisms of the method.

Relaxing Tension is all about stress, and our response to stress. We find a new, very relaxed mode of life.
Boosting Vitality is about combating tiredness, and increasing our inner spark of vitality.
Calming Anxiety is about finding a calm core of our being that can't be shaken by life's ups and downs.

Each of these actions correspond to a set of specific channels and points in the acupuncture system. When we rebalance the body by focussing on one aspect, we actually enhance all three, as these actions are mutually interlinked.These states actually underpin our health, allowing our system to work optimally, increase bloodflow, enhance metabolism, boost the immune system, provide good sleep and maintains our fertility.

The meaning of the english word "acupuncture" is interesting. Acu means "sharp" and is also found in such words as accurate. "-puncture" is just like it sounds! In chinese the words used for it is "zhen-jiu" 针灸 which means needling (with an acupuncture needle) and moxabustion. That last word refers to heat treatment, often by using a glowing herbal stick we call a "moxa stick". By the way, it is not spelled "accupuncture", although this often shows up on search results!

Acupuncture is an extremely safe technique, with very high standards of hygiene and training. Degree level training and continuing professional development ensure a professional approach. I am a member of the British Acupuncture Council which insists on a code of safe practice, ensuring that levels of hygeine and safety in treatment are extremely high.

In essence there are no negative side effects to treatment. Very few adverse effects of treatment have ever been recorded, and these few were traced to unregistered practitioners. On the contrary, the after effect of acupuncture is overwhelmingly positive, with incresed relaxation and sense of wellbeing.

How acupuncture works is a really good question! Because acupuncture is a traditional treatment form in China for literally thousands of years, it something of a fact of life that acupuncture gives effective treatments, and ordinary people are not very questioning of "how" and "why" it works. Here in the west, we use the scientific tradition to know and make progress, so to answer this we can approach it from this tradition.
‍
In scientific terms acupuncture is thought to profoundly stimulate nervous system, the cerebellum, endocrine system and immune system. Functional MRI scans show actual changes in the cerebellum (part of the brain) during acupuncture needling that relate to increased parasymathetic sysem function and release of dopamine. These changes are then thought to actually mediate direct changes in physiology.

It is quite well known that pressing certain points / places has an benficial effect on the body. Acupuncture uses these same places, and with placing a needle to a depth of half an inch or so it can make a very specific change. In fact the traditional Chines terms for these places are actually called "holes" or xué 穴

Knowledge of acupuncture points is well known in the technique of acupressure and uses the same places as acupuncture but with strong pressure applied. This can be very useful for clients to use for themselves and I show some self-care acupressure points here on the wellbeing page of this site.

Another excellent question. The short answer is "Yes acupuncture works!".

For most conditions that people come to treatment for, they experience a decrease in symptoms.The long answer is that it is actually not so easy to answer this question with 100% certainty. In common with other "complex medical interventions" like physiotherapy, psychotherapy, occupational therapy, surgery and nursing, it is very hard to tell with complete accuracy how well the therapy does. This is because the actual nature of the intervention is completely individualised for each and every client. We do not generally follow standard protocols, and no two treatments will be exactly alike. This means that following more stringent scientific testing is never going to be possible for acupuncture. That being said, there is increasing evidence for the efficacy of treatment for acupuncture. This is reported widely across scientific papers. I use the Journal of Chinese Medicine as my main source of scientific information showing the ways that acupuncture works. for many conditions, there is quite reasonable levels of evidence for treatment, and I often use this information to plan my treatments and communicate with my patients regarding treatment outcomes.

I am passionate about addressing patient's main complaints well, using evidence based acupuncture appropriately and persuing the latest professional training or CPD. These two factors of Evidence based acupuncture and ongoing CPD form the gold standard of acupuncture care.