Treatment - WHAT TO EXPECT
Chinese Medicine doesn’t just treat the symptoms of an illness or injury, it treats the whole person. So before treating you I will take a comprehensive medical and personal history, designed to understand your general state of health and any conditions you may have. Some questions may appear unrelated to your condition, but your answers provide me with a complete picture of your health, allowing for more tailored treatment. This initial consultation will take around 1.5 hours (including a treatment) and subsequent sessions will be about an hour.
ACUPUNCTURE:
Acupuncture involves inserting very fine, medical-grade needles into the skin, connective tissue (fascia) or muscle to stimulate the body's physiological processes, move blood and fluid and help the body clear any obstructions that may be disrupting the flow of energy.
Please be aware that there are hundreds of acupuncture points in the body and some of the points selected for your treatment may be in a different part of the body from your complaint. For example, if you are suffering from headache, needles may be inserted in your foot or hand as the meridians that are located around the site of the headache flow to other parts of the body.
Non-Needling Treatments may also form part of treatment, either in addition to acupuncture or as a standalone treatment:
MOXIBUSTION:
Heat is applied to an acupuncture point using a therapeutic herb called moxa to warm and relax muscles and qi. It can be particularly useful for diseases such as osteoarthritis, muscular and joint pain, soft tissue injury and period pains. It can also be used to turn a breech baby, or baby in malposition during pregnancy.
CUPPING:
Glass cups are placed on the skin with a vacuum seal to stimulate blood flow and clear blocked energy. The cup is either left in place for several minutes or moved around the affected body part. The cup draws blood to the area, nourishes the muscles, removes stagnation from the area and helps to relieve pain. The treatment can also be used to improve the immune system and aid the release of pathogens.
Cupping can leave red or purple bruise-like marks on the skin, but these will usually disappear within 3-5 days.
GUA-SHA:
A round edge tool is used to scrape the skin to help improve circulation, increase blood flow to the affected area and clear blocked or stagnant energy.
Gus-Sha can leave red or purple bruise-like marks on the skin, but these will usually disappear within 3-5 days.
DIETARY AND LIFESTYLE ADVICE:
Lifestyle and dietary advice are an integral part of the practice of Chinese medicine and can often have a significant impact on the outcome of treatments and your general health and wellbeing. Changes can be as simple as ensuring you are getting enough sleep and eating the right foods or more significant depending on your complaint. I am well aware that it is very difficult to change habits and people are not always ready to make big changes to their lifestyle. I therefore usually only give a few small recommendations at the first appointment and may gradually make further suggestions as treatment evolves and you see results or feel better able to make changes.
