Acupuncture

What is Acupuncture?

• Modern acupuncture is the insertion of very fine needles into specific points just below the skin
• These acupuncture points are located on meridiens or energy channels first detected by the ancient Chinese over 2000 years ago
• Acupuncture is based on the assumption that Qi courses through the body just as streams and rivers ebb and flow across the surface of the earth. The acupuncture points are located in small depressions in the skin called "men" or "gates" where the channels come closest to the surface.

How does it work?

• Acupuncture points relate to particular body and organ functions
• The points are stimulated to correct imbalances
• 'Stuck or stagnant' qi (energy) can be moved
• In both cases healing can be brought about and pain relieved

Diagnosis

Practitioners assess health by feeling the pulse at each wrist and by observing the color and form of the face, tongue, and body. This information in addition to the patient’s personal history - present and past complaints, physical environment, family health history, and emotional life help the practitioner to decide what and how to treat the patient.

Treatment

The goal of treatment is to harmonize all of the systems of the body and mind. Weak organs are tonified, congested channels are unblocked and the body is restored to balance.

Treatment may incorporate acupuncture, herbal remedies, diet, exercise, and massage. Duration of treatment depends on the nature of the complaint, its severity, and how long it has been present.

What happens in an acupuncture session?

The practitioner uses tiny sterile stainless steel acupuncture needles, which are inserted into the points of the body corresponding to the systems of the body that need harmonizing. Acupuncture invigorates proper function of the muscles, nerves, organs.

How It Feels

Insertion of the needles goes unnoticed by some, and to others feels like a small pinch followed by a sensation of tingling, numbness, ache, traveling warmth, or heaviness. Needles remain in place for twenty to forty minutes. Most people experience a sense of relaxation and balance as a result of the session, and a relief from symptoms or increase in energy following the sessions which will last for some days and improve as the course of treatment continues.

Is it painful?

Not usually - in many cases the patient does not even feel the needles go in. The main sensation is a brief numbness, perhaps some tingling, followed by a sense of relaxation and well-being.

What Acupuncture Can Treat?

Some of the many conditions for which acupuncture is considered appropriate are listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations:

• Colds/flu, bronchitis, asthma
• High blood pressure, ulcers, colitis, indigestion, diarrhea, constipation, diabetes
• Arthritis, back pain, stiff neck, headache, stroke, sprains
• Earaches, poor eyesight, dizziness, sinus infection, sore throat, hay fever
• Impotence, infertility, pre-menstural syndrome (PMS), pelvic inflamitory disease (PID), irregular period or cramps, morning sickness
• Anxiety, depression, stress, insomnia, eczema, acne, herpes

"Sure, but what's it like?", many people ask!

Here's a personal experience recounted...

(from Bath Chronicle, July 2, 2002)

Lots of people don't like the idea of needles, but Kylie Pentelow discovered how an acupuncture session can send away stress.

" ...I feel totally relaxed. It is only when I look down that I remember I am not lying on a beach in some far off destination - but in the treatment room of a clinic. It is the combination of 7 needles inserted into various parts of my body that is giving me this amazing sense of well being.

The thought of having a holiday jab or giving blood is enough to put most people off needles - and acupuncture certainly falls into the needles category. Piercing the skin is usually a painful experience, but the fine needles used in this ancient Chinese therapy do not hurt. In fact, the sensation form the needle is electrifying in the most positive sense.

You experience it as a total change in feeling throughout your entire being. As the needles were inserted, I felt the pressures of the day float away through the window. The "stress" needle had the most effect, inserted in the centre of the forehead, a couple of centimetres up form the bridge of the nose. This is said to align mind, body and spirit, and is especially effective when you're feeling frazzled and overworked.

After the needle was inserted, my eyes closed involuntarily. I wasn't tired, in fact I felt totally awake. When I returned to the office, I took the constantly ringing phone in my stride and the deadlines no longer seemed such a pressure. I felt I was smiling from the inside out... "

Call 020 8749 3792 to book your session with a practitioner of Acupuncture in west London:


Acupuncturist, West London - Nick Dalton-Brewer

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